Manchester United vs Brighton Preview: Predicted First XI and 5 points to look forward to
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.