What ridiculous way will Man United find to beat Brighton this time?

Since 2020, Brighton v Man United has produced some of the most surreal, comical and ridiculous moments of officiating you will ever see in football.

Last time out at Old Trafford we had referee Peter Bankes changing a correct yellow card for Lewis Dunk to a straight red, egged on by a gaggle of United players demanding the Brighton captain be dismissed.

United were fined £20,000 for their players conduct in that melee. Such a huge fine must have hit United hard and was more than enough compensation for taking away any hope Brighton had of getting a point at Old Trafford and losing Dunk to suspension.

A year earlier at the Theatre of Dreams and Danny Welbeck had been denied the most blatant penalty you will ever see.

Dat Guy looked certain to convert a low Neal Maupay cross until Harry Maguire put the former United favourite in a chicken wing chokehold. Brighton would go onto lose 2-1.

Neither of those matches comes close to the farce the last time United visited the Amex, of course. The Red Devils were awarded a 97th minute penalty after the final whistle had blown when only six minutes of time added on were meant to have been played. The final score? Brighton 2-3 United.

A conspiracy theorist might suggest that the footballing authorities will find any means to prevent United suffering the embarassment of losing to a #TeamLike Brighton.

Which begs the question what will they come up with next?

Manchester United this season
Ole Gunnar Solksjaer began the season at the wheel but unfortunately for the man who scored one of the most famous goals in United history, he was unable to get the club out of second gear.

That resulted in his November sacking following a somewhat embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Watford. Ralf Rangnick was appointed interim manager until the end of the season and things have not really improved under the German, who once attended the University of Sussex and played for Southwick in the Sussex County League.

You might be surprised to know that as it has not been mentioned very much at all since Rangnick took over at Old Trafford.

With two games of the campaign left to play, the very best United can hope for looks like a sixth place finish. That has seen the return of the ‘Gold and Green’ protests against the Glazer Family, which strangely disappear when United are pushing for Champions League qualification or winning trophies as they did under Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal.

It is almost like United fans only want their owners gone when they fall below fourth spot. The rest of the time, they are happy to grin and bear it.

So, sorry if the rest of the football world do not share sympathy with Red Devils fans. Perhaps they should try being Oldham Athletic supporters, to understand what terrible ownership whereby you want the chairman out every day of the week no matter what the league position is really all about.

Team news
Graham Potter confirmed that Enock Mwepu is injured (again) and so his season appears over. Mwpeu has been a very exciting player when he has made it onto the pitch, which admittedly has been nowhere near enough.

Hopefully, it is a case of him needing a season of English football under his belt to get used to its rigours and physicality rather than him being injury-prone. A good pre-season and come back stronger in 2022-23 please, Mr Computer.

Jeremy Sarmiento is in a similar boat whereby he has another niggle which will rule him out. Other than that, the Albion have a full bill of health.

It is difficult to see how Potter names anything other than the side who destroyed Wolves 3-0 at Molineux last week in arguably the best Brighton performance of the season. Therefore expect to see seven changes.

United captain Maguire is set to return from a three game absence. Maguire is different class for England but seems to struggle for his club – he is not the only one of course – so his return could be seen as good news for the Albion.

Marcus Rashford is ruled out with illness (having spent most of the past two years making the government feel sick) and Eric Bailly has a bad back.

Key battles
A certain Cristiano Ronaldo is probably the man you would expect to see be named here. He may be 37-years-old, but he has still managed to plunder 24 goals in all competitions.

The opportunity to see one of the greatest footballers in the history of the sport playing against little old Brighton is why Albion fans should never take the club’s current Premier League status for granted.

We have a come long way from Marco Gabbiadini scoring a hat-trick against the Seagulls in a 4-0 win for Darlington – even if there were no “Gabbiadini, please can I have you shirt” signs at Priestfield that day, as there are certain to be for CR7 at the Amex.

The recent history of Brighton v Man United suggest however that the Albion have a far bigger battle on their hands than stopping Ronaldo.

If they want to get a result against the Red Devils, they will need to give VAR no excuse to find a way for United to win.

Andy Madley is the man in the middle on this occasion. More troubling for Brighton fans will be the presence of Chris Kavanagh as VAR official.

Kavanagh was the on-pitch referee the day of the 97th minute penalty after the final whistle incident, which bodes well.

Recent form
Brighton have won three, drawn two and lost one of their past six matches. That form is good in itself, but when you take the Albion’s home record in isolation then the picture becomes far less rosy.

Three Amex victories all season and none since Boxing Day. Why such a disparity between home and away results?

Well, one theory is that it is due to the noisy backing the team get on the road compared to how stale the Amex has been this season.

A Saturday evening game against the mighty Manchester United can change all that. Brighton fans should be well-oiled after an afternoon drinking in the sunshine, whilst matches against United tend to lend themselves to a better atmosphere even without a seven hour session beforehand.

Remember the 1-0 win in the final home game of the 2017-18 season to secure Premier League survival? That is a reminder of what the Amex can be like – and there has been no better opportunity to repeat it than this upcoming visit of United.

• 30/04/22: Wolves 0-3 Brighton
• 24/04/22: Brighton 2-2 Southampton
• 20/04/22: Man City 3-0 Brighton
• 16/04/22: Spurs 0-1 Brighton
• 09/04/22: Arsenal 1-2 Brighton
• 02/04/22: Brighton 0-0 Norwich

Man United have the opposite problem to the Albion. Whilst they have not lost a Premier League game at Old Trafford since January 3rd, they have won only twice away from home since Halloween.

Brighton v Man United at the Amex is therefore a meeting between a club with a terrible home record and a club with a terrible away record. I am sure you can see where our prediction for this one will be heading…

• 02/05/22: Man United 3-0 Brentford
• 28/04/22: Man United 1-1 Chelsea
• 23/04/22: Arsenal 3-1 Man United
• 19/04/22: Liverpool 4-0 Man United
• 16/04/22: Man United 3-2 Norwich
• 09/04/22: Everton 1-0 Man United

Last time Brighton played Man United
The Albion did reasonably well in the first half at Old Trafford back in February. A mistake from Yves Bissouma though allowed Ronaldo to open the scoring shortly after the break and it was downhill from there.

Dunk found himself heading for that early bath thanks to pathetic begging and pleading of the United players and Robert Sanchez had to make several top class saves to prevent it becoming a cricket score.

United did manage to find a way past the impressive Spaniard right at the death, Bruno Fernandes securing the three points by finishing off a counter.

Quite incredibly, we were treated to the sight of the United team partaking in a lap of honour afterwards. It was as if they have had just won the Premier League title, rather than beating an out-of-form Albion.

If ever there was a sign of how far Manchester United have fallen from a club of European champions and treble winners, this was it.

Brighton v Manchester United head-to-head
We will not spend too long looking at the head-to-head as it is pretty woeful. Brighton have just three wins in 27 meetings compared to United’s 19, leaving five draws.

The good news is that two of those Albion victories have come at the Amex in the Seagulls’ current spell as a Premier League outfit.

A reason why Brighton will win
The Albion have failed to beat Newcastle, The Leeds United, Wolves, Crystal Palace, Burnley, Aston Villa, Norwich City and Southampton at the Amex this season.

It would be #TypicalBrighton for them to now go and pick up three points from United. And given the Red Devils’ aforementioned woeful away record – one Premier League win on the road under Rangnick – it might be more plausible than you think.

A reason why Manchester United will win
The match officials will conspire to find a way to help United to three points. They always bloody do.

Betting
Three games left of the Premier League season means three more opportunities to extract from the goldmine that has been betting on Brighton to draw this season.

The draw is available at a best priced 5/2. Dunk at 7/2 to pick up a card offers an intriguing side line for when VAR gets involved.

Predictions
Prediction of score: Brighton 1-1 Man United
Prediction of number of signs in the crowd asking for Ronaldo’s shirt: 237
Prediction of number fans in Albion areas who shout SIUUUUUU when Ronaldo scores: 2,457