Manchester United take on Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium in today’s early Premier League kick-off.
The Red Devils started their league campaign with a 1-0 win over Fulham at Old Trafford. Joshua Zirkzee scored a late winner on debut coming off the bench.
United could have easily won the game by a significant scoreline, but they lacked the cutting edge. Bruno Fernandes was twice denied by goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
The club now face Brighton on the road and it could be a tricky game, considering the Seagulls have won four of the previous five league meetings against United.
The Red Devils came on top back in May with a 2-0 win on the road.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Predicted Line-up:
Andre Onana had a good outing against the Cottagers with two fine saves. The Cameroonian star has been an undisputed starter in goal since his arrival last summer and will keep his place against the Seagulls.
In front of him, it could be an identical backline. Noussair Mazraoui had a fine full debut from right-back, completing over 90 percent of his passes. The Moroccan also won 100 percent of his tackles and ground duels.
Diogo Dalot should continue in the left-back role in the injury absence of Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia. Harry Maguire had a good outing last week and should get the nod over Matthijs de Ligt to partner Lisandro Martinez in central defence.
Similarly, Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo should keep their places in the heart of the midfield. The former was good in pre-season and has continued to impress. He created two key chances versus Fulham, but was vulnerable defensively.
He lost possession on 14 occasions which offered space for Fulham to exploit on the counter-attack. The Brazilian can’t afford the same against Brighton and has to tighten up. Mainoo may need to provide additional defensive cover.
Further forward, we anticipate a couple of changes with Amad Diallo and Mason Mount making way for Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee. Garnacho had a superb impact off the bench, providing the assist for Zirkzee’s late winner.
He had an easy chance to double the lead in stoppage time but fluffed his lines. The Argentine should start on the right wing. Amad could be left out of the matchday squad altogether after the sad demise of his mother this week.
Marcus Rashford was ineffective against the Cottagers, failing to complete any of his five take-ons. He won only 22 percent of his duels, losing possession 16 times. Despite this, manager Erik ten Hag should keep the faith in him on the left wing.
Fernandes should drop into his familiar number 10 role after failing to score with two clear-cut chances last week. Zirkzee was superb with his movement in the lead-up to his maiden goal and deserves to make his full debut up front.
How Man Utd could line up vs Brighton
Stats from Sofascore.com
