Match Preview: Groundhog Day as Brighton host Manchester United
Is it Groundhog Day? For the second time in 96 hours, we are putting together a preview of Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester United at the Amex.
This time, the fixture takes place in the Carabao Cup. And this time, perhaps we will not see United awarded a penalty after the final whistle has been blown in the 97th minute of a game which was only meant to last 95 minutes. Not that we are still bitter about Saturday’s shambles or anything…
Manchester United this season
If I were a Manchester United fan, I would have serious concerns about where this season is going. Despite spending the GDP of a large country on their squad, United lost their opening game of the campaign 3-1 against Crystal Palace.
They should have been on the end of a defeat in their second game as well. Not only did we have the spot kick debacle, but Aaron Connolly had a perfectly good penalty of his own overturned by VAR, Harry Maguire wrestled Lewis Dunk to the ground in the build up to United’s second and the Albion hit the frame of the goal on five occasions.
On another day, Brighton 2-3 Manchester United could very feasibly have finished Brighton 4-1 Manchester United – at least. How the mighty Red Devils have fallen when they are getting turned over at home by Palace and need a corrupt refereeing performance to beat little old Brighton. Based on that, United will do well to make the top four this season.
Recent form
As we have spent the entirety of this preview so far stressing, Manchester United come into the game in dreadful form performance wise, certainly compared to Brighton.
The Albion are yet to have a bad game so far, be that with their full strength side in the Premier League or a second string line up in the Carbao Cup.
Results may not be reflective of that, but nothing would serve as a reminder to everyone about how well Brighton have played in 2020-21 than making the quarter finals of the League Cup for only the second ever time and eliminating United along the way.
Brighton v Manchester United Head-to-Head
Brighton and Manchester United have met 24 times in the past and it will come as a surprise to nobody to learn that United lead the head-to-head record with 16 wins to the Albion’s three. Those with a GCSE in maths will have deduced that there have been five draws.
In terms of the League Cup, we have met in the competition on two occasions. They came in the 1992-93 season, when the second round was played over two legs.
Sir Alex Ferguson named a weakened side for the first match at the Goldstone Ground – including a debut for some 17-year-old kid called David Beckham – with the result being a 1-1 draw.
Danny Wallace put the visitors 1-0 ahead in the first half, only for Matthew Edwards to equalise within 90 seconds of Beckham’s introduction from the bench.
Nobody seems to mention that the goal came about because Ian Chapman had a LOT of space to exploit pushing forward from left back with Beckham nowhere to be seen…
Ferguson was livid with the result. “We played it like a practice match and got the kind of result you would expect from that,” the United boss said afterwards. Luckily for his players, the Goldstone was not advanced enough to have many hairdryers.
As a result of the substandard effort in Hove, Ferguson named a full strength side for the second leg at Old Trafford two weeks later. Mark Hughes scored the only goal in the 14th minute to give United a 1-0 win on the night and a 2-1 victory on aggregate.
Brighton & Hove Albion’s Head-to-Head record with Manchester United
Last six meetings
• Brighton 2-3 Manchester United (Premier League, 26/09/20)
• Brighton 0-3 Manchester United (Premier League, 30/06/20)
• Manchester United 3-1 Brighton (Premier League, 10/11/19)
• Manchester United 2-1 Brighton (Premier League, 19/01/19)
• Brighton 3-2 Manchester United (Premier League, 19/08/18)
• Brighton 1-0 Manchester United (Premier League, 04/05/18
Those two victories that Brighton had over United in our first two seasons as a Premier League club seem to have created this myth that the Albion are a bogey side for United. Four defeats in a row and only three victories from 24 does not exactly make for great reading.
Team news
Graham Potter has already said that the players who eliminated Portsmouth and Preston North End in the previous rounds had earned the chance to face United.
There are question marks over the fitness of Davy Propper and Alexis Mac Allister, both of whom missed out on the bench for Saturday’s Premier League game. Other than that, it will probably be as you were from the side who secured that first ever win at Deepdale a week ago.
This will be United’s first game in the League Cup this season and Solksjaer is certain to make wholesale changes too. Not that this necessarily weakens his team; whereas Potter replaces Maty Ryan with part time golfer and full time drinker Jason Steele, United can call upon Sergio Romero or Dean Henderson. Not bad replacements as it goes…
Manchester United’s danger men
It is always hard to pick a danger man in a match preview when you do not know which individuals Brighton will be facing and there is certainly an element of the unknown about how Manchester United will line up.
One player who does seem likely to start is Donny van de Beek. The £35 million signing from Ajax is being slowly integrated into the United side and he seems likely to get some significant game time under his belt at the Amex, providing a real test for whichever young midfielder out of Jayson Molumby or Max Sanders is tasked with marking him.
The betting value for Brighton v Manchester United
Our friends at GentingBet used their Brighton v Manchester United League Cup preview to flag up Van De Beek as the man to keep an eye on for an anytime goal. Sadly, that seems like pretty sound advice.
There are two Brighton players who should pique your interest in that particular market. Alireza Jahanbakhsh is absolutely thriving in this competition so far and it would not be a surprise at all to say the Persian Prince hitting the back of the net at 4/1.
Pascal Gross has also been excellent and comes with the caveat of always playing well against United. He has scored three times against the Red Devils in the past and is a very generous looking 7/1 to do so again.
An interesting subplot
Manchester United winger Daniel James has been heavily linked with a loan move to Brighton before the transfer window shuts next week.
James played under Potter at Swansea and the two had a very strong relationship, which seems to be the main driving factor behind the rumours. If there is any truth behind them, then it could become an audition of sorts for James should he start at the Amex.
A good WeAreBrighton.com memory of Manchester United at home
Having spent most of our childhoods having Sussex-born United fans asking why we supported “a crap team like Brighton”, defeating United 1-0 at the end of the 2017-18 season was a particularly sweet way to secure Premier League survival.
20 years earlier, the Albion had finished second bottom of the Football League with 35 points. United were a year away from winning THAT treble. And now here we were, facing and beating them on a level playing field.
Brighton were no longer the crap team – and half of those United fans who took the piss were now Amex season ticket holders. How times change.
A bad WeAreBrighton.com memory of Manchester United at home
Four days ago. Chris Kavanagh. Simon Hooper. VAR. Still not bitter…
Prediction
What this game boils down to is which team have the better backup players. The easy assumption to make here is that it must be United because of the many millions of pounds they have lavished on their squad.
What you need to remember though is that a lot of that has gone on shit. The Albion meanwhile can call upon reserves who are nearly as good as their starting XI.
Our stiffs also have the added bonus of having played together twice already – and they have looked bloody good doing so. United’s reserves have played once in the Carabao Cup so far and their squad is a week behind the rest of the Premier League have had the first weekend of the season off.
Whisper it quietly, but Brighton have a very good chance of making it through the quarter finals for the first time in over 40 years. Brighton 2-1 Manchester United.
