Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion go head-to-head at Old Trafford in an exciting Premier League showdown.
United prevailed in a five-goal thriller at the Amex Stadium in the reverse fixture earlier this season, with Bruno Fernandes’ late penalty securing a 3-2 win for the Red Devils.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are chasing Champions League football and look a good bet to finish in the top four this term.
Meanwhile, the visitors are close to preserving their top-flight status after beating Southampton and Newcastle United in their last two Premier League outings.
Manchester United Preview
The Red Devils have hit the ground running in the Premier League since succumbing to a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to rock-bottom Sheffield United on Matchday 20, going unbeaten in nine league games since then (W4, D5).
Coming into this matchday, United have kept four consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League and will now be looking to do it five times on the bounce for the first time since August 2017.
Solskjaer’s men have come out victorious in each of their previous four top-flight meetings with Brighton, netting precisely three goals per game in each of the last three.
United have never lost a home fixture against Brighton, picking up ten victories in their 12 competitive H2Hs as hosts (D1), including the last six.
Starting well will put the Old Trafford outfit in a prime position to claim all three points, considering they have won 85.71% of the Premier League matches in which they were leading at half-time this season (GP7 – W6, D1).
Brighton & Hove Albion Preview
Brighton went from five successive Premier League games without winning (D2, L3) to back-to-back league triumphs before the international break put an end to their progress.
Graham Potter’s men have netted five goals across their last two Premier League outings, as many as they scored in their previous eight in the competition.
The Seagulls have struggled to cope with the best English sides this season, ending up on the losing side in all four top-flight encounters with the current top-four teams and conceding at least three goals in three of them.
Interestingly, though, the visitors have faced the third-fewest shots on target this Premier League campaign (92).
Defensively robust, they have conceded an average of 1.21 goals per away league fixture, registering 58.82% of their total away Premier League goals allowed in the first half (10/17).
Predicted Line-ups
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Dean Henderson; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Harry Maguire, Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw; Fred, Scott McTominay; Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford; Edinson Cavani.
Brighton & Hove Albion (4-4-2): Robert Sanchez; Joel Veltman, Ben White, Lewis Dunk, Dan Burn, Pascal Gross, Yves Bissouma, Steven Alzate, Leandro Trossard, Neal Maupay, Danny Welbeck.
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