Are Manchester United and Brighton back in form or not? It’s difficult to tell, ahead of their meeting at Old Trafford on Sunday.
By Ian King
Positive midweek results
Manchester United ended a run of five defeats in six matches by beating Southampton 3-1 on Thursday night, but they made hard work of it, requiring a late Amad Diallo hat-trick to wrest all three points from the bottom club. Brighton, meanwhile, won 2-0 at Ipswich, which ended their run of eight league games without a win. They’ve only lost four in the Premier League so far this season – only Liverpool and Arsenal have lost fewer – but their ten draws so far confirm what pretty much everybody already knows, that their Achilles heel this season has been killing games off.
History
Fun fact: between them, Brighton and Manchester United won three of the first four Charity Shields, held between 1908 and 1911. Brighton qualified for this match as winners of the Southern League in 1910, and beat Aston Villa in the final.
More recently, Albion have a decent record against United since returning to the Premier League in 2017, having beaten them seven times in the league since then. Earlier this season, they beat them 2-1 at The Amex.
Key players
To get past Southampton, Manchester United were heavily dependent on Amad Diallo, whose late twelve-minute hat-trick hauled them out of a very sticky situation indeed. Diallo has now scored five of United’s last seven Premier League goals; they’re becoming increasingly important to Rúben Amorim as the season progresses.
Brighton’s record of not killing games off coupled with their decent record in this fixture means that their attacking players are also of critical importance. João Pedro is their joint second-highest scorer behind United alumni Danny Welbeck with five goals, the last two of those have come in their last two matches.
Team News
Pedro had been doubtful for the Ipswich game, and his appearance and goal were certainly welcome after a disappointing recent run of form. Brighton also have Danny Welbeck back fit again but Igor Julio is out for the season. He joins Evan Ferguson, Ferdi Kadıoğlu and James Milner on the sidelines while Mats Wieffer, Jack Hinshelwood and Diego Gomez are doubtful. Manchester United’s injury concerns have eased over the last couple of weeks, with Mason Mount, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw their only absentees.
Prediction
Have Manchester United or Brighton turned a corner? United have always been able to put in a shift against the likes of City, Arsenal and Liverpool, but it’s been the more bread and butter fixtures in which they’ve so often fallen short in recent years, further evidence of which could be seen in their largely listless performance against Southampton on Thursday.
Brighton’s poor run ended at Ipswich and they have a good record against Manchester United. Given that the home side have a forward coming into excellent form but still apparently can’t defend set-pieces there should be goals, and a 2-2 draw would certainly fit Brighton’s record this season.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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