Manchester United travel to Brighton on Friday night, five days removed from beating Arsenal 2-1 at home. The Red Devils need just four more points to guarantee a second-place finish in the league this season, which could happen if results go their way and Liverpool lose at Chelsea on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho will be hugely grateful for the impact made by replacement Marouane Fellaini on Sunday. The towering Belgian midfielder came on in the second half when the score was 1-1 and scored the winner in injury time, giving Mourinho victory over Arsene Wenger in what is likely to be the final Premier League meeting between the two managers. United had earlier gone ahead via a close range shot from Paul Pogba, before former United player Henrikh Mkhitaryan equalised for the Gunners.
Meanwhile, Chris Hughton’s Seagulls struggled to a goalless draw away at Burnley on Saturday, in what was one of the poorer games of the weekend. Bruno’s chance on the 18th minute was the closest that Brighton came all afternoon, with the second half equally lacklustre. Hughton’s side sit 14th in the table, five points clear of Southampton in 18th, and although they’re not mathematically safe from relegation, it would take a remarkable turn of results to see them dragged into the mire come the final week of the season.
Brighton vs. Manchester United Predictions
Jose Mourinho will want to continue building momentum towards the FA Cup final and for next season. Much depends on what kind of team he’ll put out for this one, but there might be some rotation, especially with three games in a week. As for Brighton, they’re playing United, Manchester City and Liverpool all in a week, which will prove very tough for them. However, they’ve got the job done early and are close to safe. Expect Manchester United to win this one by a large margin, whilst keeping a clean sheet.
Brighton vs. Manchester United Betting Tips
Head to Head
- This will be the first top-flight meeting between these sides in Brighton since November 1982, the Seagulls winning 1-0 thanks to a Peter Ward goal.
- Manchester United have won their last four meetings with Brighton in all competitions without conceding a single goal. However, all of these games have been played at Old Trafford.
- Brighton have won six of their last seven home league games played on a Friday (D1), since a 0-1 loss against Wolves on 1st January 2016.
- The Amex Stadium will be the 58th ground Man United have played at in the Premier League. They’ve won at 50 of the previous 57, only Liverpool (54) and Chelsea (51) have won at more.
- The Red Devils have never lost a Premier League match on a Friday (W6 D3 L0). Only Tottenham (11 games on Thursday) have played more without defeat on a specific weekday in the competition.
- Brighton are winless in their last six Premier League games (D3 L3) and are without a win in their last three at home (D2 L1).
- Man Utd have lost at Newcastle and Huddersfield in the Premier League this season. They’ve never previously lost away against as many as three promoted sides in a single top-flight campaign before.
- Away from home, the Red Devils have won three in a row, last winning four consecutively in April 2017.
- With six goals and eight assists, Pascal Gross has been directly involved in 44% of Brighton’s 32 Premier League goals this season. Only Mohamed Salah (50%) has been involved in a higher share of his team’s goals.
- Paul Pogba has scored three goals in his last four Premier League games, as many as he had in his previous 20 in the competition.
Brighton Team News
Davy Propper could return to the side, after serving a three-match ban for receiving a red card against Huddersfield. Steve Sidwell is still recovering from an ankle injury, but aside from that, Chris Hughton has no fresh injury concerns ahead of Friday’s game.
Probable Brighton XI: Mathew Ryan, Bruno, Shane Duffy, Lewis Dunk, Gaetan Bong, Anthony Knockaert, Dale Stephens, Davy Propper, Jose Izquierdo, Pascal Gross, Glenn Murray
Manchester United Team News
Romelu Lukaku went off injured against Arsenal on Sunday and is a doubt to return for Friday’s game against Brighton. It’s unknown how long he’ll be out for and could miss out on the FA Cup final against Chelsea. Victor Lindelof impressed on Sunday, when he came in as a replacement for Phil Jones.
Probable Manchester United XI: David De Gea, Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, Ashley Young, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera, Jesse Lingard, Alexis Sanchez, Marcus Rashford