Match Preview – Brighton v Manchester United

Manchester United – the club
Our final home game of the season is something of a local derby, what with the majority of Manchester United fans living in nearby Surrey. United need introduction, being the most successful team in English football history thanks to the 38 major trophies they wrapped up under professional gum chewer Sir Alex Ferguson. The silverware has dried up since Ferguson hung up his hair dryer in 2013, with “only” two Community Shields, one FA Cup, one League Cup and one Europa League entering the cabinet under the subsequent reigns of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho. In contrast, the Albion have lifted a highly impressive one Sussex Senior Cup in that time.

Manchester – the place
Most United fans come from Guildford and Basingstoke and places like that so let’s have a look at them, shall we? Guildford cathedral famously featured in the 1976 film The Omen in which Gregory Peck unwittingly adopts Damien who turns out to be the Antichrist in human form. Damien is understandably not particularly happy about being taken to the church given that he is the devil in human form and so has a right flap up having already been responsible for his first Nanny hanging herself. He would later go onto play a part in the death of a vicar, a miss carriage suffered by his adoptive mother and then her eventual death. Not bad going for a three year old. Basingstoke is nowhere near as exciting as that with their claim to fame being having an ice hockey team called Basingstoke Bison, presumably due to Hampshire being well known for its large population of wild buffalo.

Manchester – the people
Being one of the world’s biggest clubs and England’s most successful means that United have one of the best followings in the country. Given the disappointment that most of the top six have supplied in terms of atmosphere and with the added bonus of a Friday night game which generally tends to improve things due to the copious amounts of beer people can put away in the city before the game, the Amex should be rocking. United have a wealth of celebrity supporters such as Rory McIlyroy, Usain Bolt or Justin Timberlake who all support the Red Devils due to their close geographical links to Manchester.

A good WeAreBrighton.com memory of Manchester United at home
Seeing as United have spent most of their history being good and the Albion have spent most of ours being not quite as good, meetings between the two have been few and far between. The last time that they visited us was in the League Cup of 1992-93, a game that ended 1-1 at the Goldstone despite the two divisions separating the sides. Matthew Edwards scored the Albion goal on an evening that is probably better remembered for a young United youth team product making his debut from the bench and being greeted to a loud chorus of “Who the f**king hell are you?”. Wonder what happened to that David Beckham bloke?

A bad WeAreBrighton.com memory of Manchester United at home
That League Cup game is the only time we’ve faced United at home in a generation. We’d have to hazard a guess that losing 4-1 to them in the 1980-81 season wasn’t particularly enjoyable.

Played for both
Jesse Lingard spent time on loan with the Albion in our unsuccessful promotion bid of 2013-14 under Oscar Garcia that ended in Championship play off semi final defeat to Derby County. Although he looked promising, you’d have to have been smoking some serious crack at the time to predict that he would go onto become a regular for club and country within four years. Other loanees to have arrived from United include Paul McShane who famously scored the winner in our only victory away at Crystal Palace in the last 30 odd years and James Wilson who famously threw up on the Amex pitch live on television against Wolverhampton Wanderers on New Years Day 2016.

Dangermen
When you splash as much cash as Mourinho has done at United, then you are going to have a squad packed with talented. Paul Pogba is the obvious one to look out for as one of the worlds most expensive players while given the issues we’ve had defending balls into the box this season, Romelu Lukaku could also thrive. Then there is David De Gea, arguably the greatest goalkeeper in the world at this moment in time and who the Albion were unable to find a way past in our November league meeting. We also couldn’t find a way past his understudy Sergio Romero in March’s FA Cup Quarter Final which doesn’t exactly bode well.

Betting
Due to the ridiculous last three fixtures of the season that Brighton have got, this is easily our most winnable game left. The spirit shown in the draw with a Tottenham side who have been superior to United on the road this season and reason for encouragement and given that we gave them a real fright on our previous clashes this season at Old Trafford, the Amex factor could be enough to prevent us losing. Back the Brighton-Draw double chance and under 2.5 goals.

Prediction
A repeat of the Spurs game, a 1-1 draw full of tension but ultimately well deserved that will edge us closer to safety.