Match Preview: Brighton v Manchester United
After the disappointment of the opening days 2-0 defeat away at Watford, Brighton and Hove Albion kick off a run of six games featuring last seasons top four with the visit of Manchester United to the Amex.
The Albion famously beat United 1-0 in their final home game of last season to secure Premier League survival, but that was against a visiting side with nothing to play for and one eye on the FA Cup Final.
It will be a very different proposition this time around as the Seagulls look to play catch up after that abysmal showing at Vicarage Road.
Who are Manchester United?
Manchester United were formed in 1878 as Newton Heath and they haven’t done too badly in the intervening 140 years. They’ve racked up 20 league titles, 12 FA Cups, five League Cups, 21 Community Shields, three Champions Leagues, one UEFA Europa League, one Cup Winners’ Cup, one Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. They have not however won a Sussex Senior Cup, unlike the Albion. That success saw them become the go-to club of glory hunting supporters, meaning that the majority of United supporters would have been delighted that Sky have chosen to move this game to 4pm on a Sunday as they can get back to their homes in Guildford and be sat in front of the television in time for whatever the BBC show on a Sunday night these days. (Just Googled it, it’s Country File. Blonde presenter doesn’t look too bad).
What are they like now?
Jose Mourinho has always been one for moaning, but he seems to have kicked it up a notch this summer. He’s been extremely critical of the United board for not matching the spending of their top four rivals saying he has his hands tied behind his back. We’re sure that the 86 other managers in the Football League outside the top six would love to have their hands tied behind their backs if it meant working with Romelu Lukaku, Paul Pogba, David De Gea and the like. Despite having all that world class talent, it is difficult to see United making a dent on rivals Manchester City this season or big-spending Liverpool. That would make it a sixth season without a Premier League title for the Red Devils and with Mourinho’s ship notorious for going down quicker in his third season at a club than Wilfried Zaha in the box, that could spell trouble.
Which players should we be worried about?
Pogba is the obvious one, having just inspired France to lift the World Cup five weeks ago. The rumours of a falling out with Mourinho this week will either work one of two ways – he’ll be dropped completely from the squad which is great news, or he’ll start with a point to prove and end up scoring 12 times, which is bad news.
What’s the Albion’s record like against Manchester United?
That 1-0 win at the Amex in May was only Brighton’s second ever win over Manchester United in 19 attempts. The first came in November 1982 and was again by one goal to nil, that time thanks to a Peter Ward strike. That does mean that we’ve won our last two home league games against United 1-0. We’d settle for a hat-trick, please. Otherwise, the head-to-head makes for more depressing reading than discovering Boris Johnson has opened his mouth again, as you’d expect. Five draws, 12 defeats, 10 scored and 28 conceded
What’s the best WeAreBrighton.com memory of Manchester United at home?
If you were an Albion supporting kid growing up at school in Sussex in the 1990s, chances are you were outnumbered at least five-to-one by United “supporters”. The sorts who couldn’t point to Manchester on the map even if there was Roy Keane pointing a bright red arrow at it. These United “supporters” would ask you day-in, day-out why your supported a crap team like Brighton. That is what made beating United 1-0 to secure Premier League survival all the sweeter. Apart from the fact that half of them now have Amex season tickets, of course.
What’s the worst WeAreBrighton.com memory of Manchester United at home?
It’s a remarkable statistic, but we haven’t lost at home to United in our last three games. Deciding to do Bevendean Park Run – the hilliest Park Run course known to man – the day after the celebrations of staying up last year was a particularly shocking decision however.
Who’s played for both sides?
One of England’s World Cup semi final heroes has played for both sides. Jesse Lingard had a successful loan spell at the Amex under Oscar Garcia in 2013-14 as the Albion suffered the annual Championship Play Off heart break, on that occasion to Derby County. Lingard looked a promising talent then, but you’d have to have been on some serious acid to think he would go onto score a winning goal in the FA Cup Final for United and represent the Three Lions at the World Cup. We’ve actually done quite well out of United loanees down the years with Paul McShane scoring the winner in the Albion’s only win at Selhurst Park for a generation and James Wilson who threw up on the pitch before the New Years Day defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2016. Something every true Sunday League player had great appreciation for.
Other than football, what is Manchester famous for?
It gave the world two great British institutions – Oasis and Coronation Street. It was also the scene of one of the worst terrorist attacks we’ve seen in this country that wasn’t perpetrated by the IRA when a suicide bomber attacked the Manchester Evening News Arena when it hosted a concert by the lovely Ariana Grande.
Where’s the betting value for Brighton v Manchester United?
If Brighton are as poor as they were at Watford on Saturday, they’re going to get ripped apart by United. Thankfully, our Amex form in the Premier League has tended to be a world away from what we’ve produced on the road. Given that the Albion saved their best performances against top six opposition for their games with United last season, the double chance of Draw-Brighton at 19/17 looks appealing. If Brighton are to score, chances are it will come through Pascal Gross and he is 21/4 to net anytime – a remarkably big price given he should also be on penalties.
Prediction?
If the Albion turn up, a 1-1 draw. If they play like last week, 4-0 to United.
