Manchester United vs Brighton. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats and more
Manchester United will host Brighton in the English Premier League match at the Old Trafford. The fixture will take place on August 7, beginning at 18:30 IST.
Parimatchnews will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.
Manchester United News & Current Form:
After a disappointing season in which Manchester United failed to finish in the top four of the EPL and thus missed out on the Champions League, it was clear that the team would see some serious changes in the summer. First and foremost, the management had the goal to interview and select the best possible coach. Erik ten Hag from Ajax became the chosen one. Sure, we saw what he did with Ajax and he is capable of turning things around. But the club is going through perhaps its most difficult times in recent history, and a coach of this calibre and background might simply be unable to cope with the pressure and this toxic atmosphere – as happened with the predecessors. Here you need serious experience and authority. Mauricio Pochettino, who left PSG not long ago, could be a perfect fit. However, it’s too late, all the cards have been placed on the Dutch specialist.
The next step was to purge the team: Paul Pogba returned to Juventus, Jesse Lingard joined the newcomer Nottingham Forrest, Nemanja Matic left for Roma while Edinson Cavani and Juan Mata are yet to find a new club. All of these players have left Manchester as free agents.
However, the club’s signings are not convincing. On 17 July, Lisandro Martinez, an Argentinian defender well-known to ten Hag from their work at Ajax, joined the club. The price seems unreasonably high, with Arsenal, who were competing for the player, pulling out of the race finding it pointless to spend that kind of money. The club have also welcomed another defender from the Netherlands – Tyrell Malacia from Feyenoord.
It is clear that this is not enough to solidify MU’s squad. The Mancunians are desperately expecting Barcelona’s Frankie de Jong to join their squad. But the transfer is still at the negotiating stage. There are rumours that the Dutchman is not keen on a departure to a club in crisis, plus Barcelona owe him money – the 25-year-old talent wants justice.
With this background, the arrival of Christian Eriksen as a free agent comes in handy. The Dane, after suffering a heart attack at the European Championships last summer, has fully recovered and again resembles the player he was at Tottenham. Everyone was keeping an eye on him at during his time at Brentford – the Inter former players was magnificent. Let’s hope that health will not let the 30-year-old down.
Without a doubt, the biggest narrative of the summer for Man Utd fans is for sure the saga of Cristiano Ronaldo‘s exit. The Portuguese has many reasons for such behaviour, for example a fundamental desire to play in the Champions League, but one thing is clear – he is hell-bent on leaving the club at any cost. His agent is pulling the strings of the transfer market and media as much as he can. Reports suggest that Jorge Mendes has offered the services of his client to Bayern, PSG, Atletico and Chelsea. All of these clubs have turned down the star player. The situation is complicated and 37-year-old may even be forced to stay at Manchester for another year.
Having missed the entire pre-season, Ronaldo did arrive at the Man Utd training camp and played one half in a friendly against Rayo Vallecano, although he left the stadium as soon as he was replaced. So much uncertainty hampers Ten Hag – it is not at all clear who the Reds will have playing in attack this 22/23 campaign. To buy a high-caliber forward without unloading the Portuguese’s payroll is a luxury impossible to afford. What’s more, the coach mentions that the last season`s best striker of Red Devils (24 goals) is not ready for the season as compared to the other players in the team.
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Apart from the match against Rayo Vallecano, which ended 1-1, Manchester United played five more matches during pre-season: they drew with Aston Villa (2-2), lost to Atletico Madrid (0-1) and picked up wins against Crystal Palace (3-1), Melbourne Victory (4-1) and Liverpool (4-0). However, these are just preparation matches and it is hard to draw any serious conclusions from them.
Brighton News & Current Form:
Brighton, on the other hand, had a very successful campaign last season, by their own standards, of course. They finished ninth in the EPL for the first time in their history. The owner, Tony Bloom, played no small part in that progress, managing the club sensibly over the long-term distance. But the key one figure here is Graham Potter.
In his few years at the helm of the the Seagulls, Potter has managed to build a classy defensive football. With their specific and smart playstyle, the White-Blues have repeatedly creating problems to the strong opponents which resulted in many points being taken away from them.
It is very likely that the club will continue this positive trajectory in the future, climbing higher in the standings and taking part in European competitions. Every year the club becomes stronger, and the focus on promising and young players and their development in instrumental here. More importantly, the Premiership mid-tabler has been able to earn very impressive sums of money for the leaders, all of which will be available for reinvestment. For example, they managed to get as much as €58m from Arsenal for Ben White a yer ago. And in this transfer window, everyone has been closely following the saga of key player Marc Cucurella – who Pep Guardiola saw as the main man on the left flank of the defence after selling Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The Barcelona academy product joined the club last summer for €18m and a year later, after playing 35 games and becoming one of the mainstays of Potter’s tactics, he has seriously attracted the attention of the top clubs. The management of the Gulls were keeping the Citizens on toes – they did not make any compromisses and pushed for a huge sum, knowing how much Manchester City needs the Spaniard, as a result, Chelsea unexpectedly entered the race and offered a sensational and comlpetely unreasonable funds – €65.30m. But anyways, the time will tell.
Yves Bissouma also left for Tottenham, €40m here, taking bonuses into account.
The Albion will certainly find a replacement for those who left, there is more than enough money, and the scouting department is working very hard, as we can see in hindsight.
As for acquisitions, defender Julio Enciso was bought from Paraguayan Libertad. The player is only 18, but he already plays for the Paraguayan national team. And another defenfer Levi Colwill came from Chelsea to spend a loan spell.
As for pre-season: Graham Potter’s side enjoyed a decent bunch of matches, including 5-1 drubbing of Spanish Espanyol, 4-1 defeat of Portuguese Estoril, a 0-1 win at Reading, a draw with Belgian Union and a 0-1 setback at home to Brentford.
Now, Brighton have the honour of being the first to test ten Hag in England and we think they will put up a fight.
Manchester United pre-season form guide: W-W-W-D-L-D
Brighton pre-season form guide: D-W-W-L-W
Manchester United vs Brighton Head-To-Head Record:
| Manchester United | Draw | Brighton |
| 9 | 0 | 3 |
Manchester United enjoyed a nice streak of 7 victories in a row. But this spring, Brighton pulled off a sensational thrashing, defeating the Red Devils 4-0.
Manchester United vs Brighton Predicted XI:
Manchester United possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Dalot, Maguire, L Martinez, Malacia; Fred, McTominay; Sancho, Fernandes, Elanga; Rashford.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup (3-5-1-1): Sanchez; Veltman, Dunk, Webster; Lamptey, Mwepu, Gross, March; MacAllister, Welbeck, Trossard.
Statistical preview os the match:
- Since 2016, the Mancunians are having a brisk starts to the new season, seeing the match total over 2.5 six times in a row, with both wins and losses. Brighton has three consecutive starts with a total over 2.5.
- Brighton have scored less than 2.5 goals in 10 of their last 11 away matches in all competitions.
- Brighton are unbeaten in 8 of their last 9 away matches in all competitions.
- Manchester United have scored less than 2.5 goals in 5 of their last 6 games at Old Trafford in the Premier League.
- Manchester United are unbeaten in 9 consecutive home gamesin the Premier League.
What has been said before the match:
Ten Hag, the Man Utd gaffer:
“I’m happy with the current squad, they make good progress, I’m happy with the signings until now. We just don’t need any player, you need the right players and that’s the point, where we’re working all together.”
he said about the transfer campaign.
“To start this new challenge, it is excting, as is every season. But when you arrive with a new team, it is tough. I think we have to look forward to the first game. We want to win every game and we will be trying to do that from Sunday. Brighton, they are a good team, a decent squad which play attractive football. I like them.”
Graham Potter, the Brighton gaffer:
“The path isn’t necessarily a straight one, there’s always a little bit of change because of things that happen. We need to adjust but as I said before – we have to remember that we are in the Premier League, we fought very hard and long to be here.
“It’s the hardest competition in the world so everybody’s tough to beat, we have to make sure we understand that and then keep on developing your own ideas and your game, try to move forward and have ambitions, try to take every game as it comes and try to win.”
“He’s [ten Hag] a fantastic coach with a great experience from his time at Ajax, he did a really good job and I really enjoyed watching his team. I am sure he’s ready for the next step and will be looking forward to the game. There will be a positive atmosphere at Old Trafford so we’ll have to deal with that and have to be ready to face that challenge.”
said Potter ahead of the trip to Manchester.
Manchester United vs Brighton Prediction:
Manchester United seem to be benefiting from a change of mentor. The Red Devils have had a solid pre-season, with eye-catching football and a number of bright acquisitions this summer, it will be really interesting to watch Eriksen in action. Old Trafford is a place of power for the Mancunians and it is important to start the season with a victory to boost some morale and gain confidence and faith in this season.
The Seagulls are an amazing team for sure, and it is quite interesting to track their progress over last couple of years. Brighton have grown from underdogs to fairly solid mid-table side, and now even top-6 clubs consider Albion as a dangerous opponent. They will surely continue to progress in the future. But now, having lost Cucurella – who was very important to Potter – they are in a weaker position. The Red Devils will seize the moment.
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Parimatch News staff prediction:
We say: Man Utd to win and the match total under 4.5 – Yes.
