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Manchester United travel to the Amex Stadium on Sunday to face Brighton & Hove Albion in their second game of the season. United are coming off a confidence-boosting a 2-1 home win over Leicester City, whereas Brighton succumbed to a frustrating 2-0 defeat to Watford. Both clubs had contrasting pre-season performances, and while Mourinho managed to put his preseason woes behind in the first game of the season, Chris Hughton was left disappointed when Brighton could not continue their fine preseason form into the Premier League.
Brighton have won just 2 times in the 19 games against Manchester United in all competition, with the Red Devils winning 12. However, since the inception of the Premier League, the teams have played each other only twice, with both registering a win each. Brighton famously won 1-0 at the Amex Stadium the last time these two met, which was in May this year. United did win 1-0 at home and 2-0 in the FA Cup. Incidentally, if United secure 3 away points on Sunday, Jose will become the first United Manager to win his first 2 opening games 3 seasons in a row.
Team News
United do not have any of the injured players back for this game. Mourinho has confirmed that Nemanja Matic and Valencia have both started training and are on the road to recovery, whereas Lingard, returning from the World Cup sabbatical, has also begun training. None of the three is likely to feature against Brighton. They join Romero, Dalot, Rojo and Herrera on the sidelines. Lukaku featured as a substitute against Leicester City and with a week’s training under the belt, could get more minutes against Brighton.
Brighton will be without their Skipper Bruno, who was injured against Watford. Florin Andone and Jose Izquierdo are also nursing injuries and will not feature. Jahanbakhsh and Bissouma could start after getting a few minutes as a substitute against Watford.
Probable Teams
Manchester United Predicted First XI: De Gea; Darmian, Bailly, Lindelof, Shaw; Pogba, Pereira, Fred; Mata, Lukaku, Sanchez
Brighton & Hove Albion Predicted First XI: Ryan; Montoya, Duffy, Dunk, Bernardo; Knockaert, Stephens, Bissouma, Jahanbakhsh; Gross; Murray
The Match will be officiated by Kevin Friend and we ponder over 5 points of the game to look forward to
#5 Will Lukaku Start?
Manchester United missed Romelu Lukaku in the pre-season and also missed him at the start of the first game of the season. When he did come on against Leicester though, the Belgian missed a glorious opportunity to put United in the comfort zone.
Lukaku had a fine World Cup as a part of the Belgium Team who finished third in the tournament. Lukaku scored 4 goals in the tournament and his strength and speed were on display as he brushed opponents aside and left defenders behind with his change of pace. He already finished with 27 goals from 51 appearances last season and will be desperate to bring his World Cup performances into the club outings.
Against Leicester, even though Rashford was full of running and pressing, he was very poor as a traditional number 9; he did not have a single shot on target. Against Brighton, who already stung United at the same arena last season, Mourinho will be desperate for Lukaku’s presence in the tip of the attacking three and the big Belgian will be looking forward to making amends for his miss against Leicester.
#4 Can Luke Shaw continue his assured performance?
Luke Shaw was fabulous against Leicester City and rightly deserved his Man of the Match Award. He had 99 touches on the ball, attempted 67 passes, had two shots, both of which were on target and ended up scoring the winner! He had 3 touches in the opposition penalty box, the highest in his team and even helped United win the penalty in the first half. Luke Shaw was everywhere and was involved with everything good coming out of the United team. But the youngster has been good in patches before and the game against Brighton will be crucial for both United and Shaw. Shaw will be hoping that he can keep up the intensity of the first game of the season and will be desperate to gain consistency in his game. United will be hoping that their teenage sensation will finally come of age and fulfil his potential.
Shaw will be aware that Young is coming back after a solid World Cup and as such, the youngster will have to work doubly hard to keep the experienced veteran out of the team. His performance against Brighton will be closely monitored by Mourinho and Shaw does not have too many margins for error now.
#3 Will Brighton repeat their upset from last season?
Last Season Brighton defeated United by a solitary goal when the Red Devils visited the Amex Stadium. United had the ball in the net at the start of the game, but it was ruled out for offside. Brighton scored through a Gross header in the second half and the game ended 1-0. United had 68% possession, attempted 16 shots, out of which 3 were on target, but could not muster a single goal. Brighton had 11 shot, 4 of which were on target and scored 1 goal. The Red Devils had 862 touches on the ball and had attempted 675 passes. In contrast, Brighton had 475 touches and attempted 313 passes. United had 8 tackles to Brighton’s 19, 19 clearances to Brighton’s 22 and 6 corners to Brighton’s 5. United also had conceded 3 fouls whereas Brighton had 5. Brighton proved that they were no pushovers and with some smart additions in the transfer market over the summer, will be looking to have an even better season this time.
Similar to last time, Brighton are on the back foot again, and it would be unwise to write them off before the start of the game. United will have to work very hard for the 3 points and Mourinho will be well aware of the threat that Brighton possess and cannot risk a repeat of last season.
#2 Can the United midfield dominate proceedings?
Manchester United tried all sorts of midfield combinations in the preseason, but Pereira was the standout performer there. Once Fred joined his fellow Brazilian for the last couple of games, they immediately looked comfortable with each other. On Friday against Leicester, Paul Pogba played with the two of them for the first time and immediately struck a partnership. All three defended and attacked in unison; even though Pereira was stationed deeper in the midfield, he was not a typical defensive midfielder. Fred and Pereira did all the pressing and Pogba himself was involved in two very good clearances. On the other hand, having the two Brazilians alongside him seemed to have freed the Frenchman, who looked lively, spread the ball with a touch of class and looked every bit his brilliant self. He even had two shots, and both of them were on target.
Even though the United midfield got the better of their Leicester City counterparts, there were instances in the game where they were caught out. Mourinho will look to settle these minor issues – it was just the first game of the season – and the United midfield will look to dominate again. Brighton will be a different proposition, they will defend deep and look to hit in the counter and in set pieces. The midfield will have to work out a way through the crowd near the box and this will be a big test for Fred, Pogba and especially Pereira from the deep. The game will be especially important for Pogba, who can carry forward his brilliant form from the summer and go on to stamp his authority in his United team.
#1 Will Sanchez continue his preseason form?
Alexis Sanchez was sublime through the middle in the preseason. He combined brilliantly with Mata and was one of the bright spots of the dismal preseason for Manchester United. He carried his preseason form into the first game of the season but was let down by some slack attacking from his teammates, especially Rashford. Sanchez partnered well with the marauding Shaw and connected flawlessly with the midfield. He also switched places with Mata and attempted United’s only throughball of the game, when he brilliantly set up Lukaku with the goalkeeper at his mercy, only for the Belgian to miss.
Sanchez looks all set to have a massive season and all he needs now is a goal to settle the nerves. With Lukaku probably starting the game, Sanchez will have that target to aim his balls to and will find those pockets of spaces when the Belgian draws away defenders. The Chilean has been away from the papers for long amid all the chaos of the summer including the transfer rumours and the World Cup, and Alexis Sanchez will look at this game to announce his resurgence to the Premier League.
