Manchester United vs Brighton – Match Preview and team news

In partnership with

The Football Faithful

·19 January 2025

Manchester United vs Brighton – Match Preview and team news

Manchester United welcome Brighton to Old Trafford this Sunday looking to making it consecutive league wins for the first time this season.

Ruben Amorim’s side conjured up a late comeback to beat a spirited Southampton side 3-1 on Thursday night. Marcus Rashford was left out of the squad again by the United manager as speculation about his future continue to swirl.

OneFootball Videos

Diogo Dalot is back in contention after the Portuguese served a one game suspension against Southampton. Jonny Evans is still feeling discomfort while Luke Shaw and Mason Mount’s injury woes persist.

Brighton ended an eight-game winless run with a 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town during midweek.

Ferdi Kadioglu is still struggling with a toe injury and Jack Hinshelwood and Mats Wieffer continue to be hampered by recurring issues. Brazilian defender Igor has been ruled out for the rest of the season after requiring surgery on a hamstring injury.

Brighton will be confident going into this clash having beaten Man United in their last two meetings at Old Trafford.

Manchester United vs Brighton – Match Preview and team news

Form

Manchester United: LLDDW

It was the ‘Amad Show’ on Thursday night as the Ivorian scored a twelve minute hat-trick to spare United’s blushes against rock-bottom Southampton. The Saints took the lead just before the interval as Manuel Ugarte inadvertently put the ball into his own net.

Ruben Amorim’s tactical tweak of pushing Amad further up the field worked wonders as he tore the opposition apart. The 22-year old equalised before scoring the winner in the 90th minute and added insult to injury minutes later.

United climbed into 12th position following their first Premier League victory in five matches.

Brighton: DDDWW

The Seagulls put an end to their own winless run as they comfortably eased past Ipswich in Suffolk. Kaoru Mitoma netted on the hour mark before Georginio Rutter capped off a strong display with Brighton’s second.

Prior to that 2-0 win at Portman Road, Fabian Hurzeler’s team had not won in the Premier League since November. Since then they have drawn six, including underwhelming stalemates with Southampton and Leicester, but lost only two games.

Brighton moved into the top half after collecting three points from the Tractor Boys and are only six behind fifth-placed Chelsea.

Last Meeting

Brighton 2-1 Manchester United, Premier League, 24th August 2024

Manchester United were handed their first defeat of the season by Hurzeler’s men back in August.

Erik ten Hag’s side spurned the first opening of the match when Diallo couldn’t connect properly with Diogo Dalot’s inch-perfect delivery and it spun out of harm’s way.

Just past the half hour mark, Danny Welbeck would come back to haunt his boyhood club as he tapped Brighton in front. Abject defending from United allowed their former forward occupy acres of space in the six yard box and Kaoru Mitoma picked him out with ease.

The Seagulls came close to doubling their lead after the break as Dalot cleared James Milner’s attempt off the line. Welbeck’s header then clipped the crossbar with Andre Onana rooted to the spot.

However, the Red Devils would restore parity as Amad atoned for his earlier miss. The Ivorian weaved inside before his shot deflected off Jan Paul van Hecke and into the net.

The pendulum of momentum started to swing in United’s favour and the players thought they had completed the comeback.

Bruno Fernandes found Alejandro Garnacho to tap into an unguarded net, but Joshua Zirkzee got the final touch on the line.

However, after a lengthy VAR check it was determined that Zirkzee was in an offside position. The Dutchman’s touch was unnecessary as the ball was already travelling in, but the goal was disallowed.

Their afternoon went from bad to worse in stoppage time as Brighton found a winner. Simon Adringa’s cross took a nick off a red shirt before floating towards Joao Pedro who was unmarked to head home Brighton’s second.

The final score was 2-1 and United returned to Manchester bitterly disappointed.

Predicted Line-ups

Manchester United XI: Onana, Dalot, de Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Mazraoui; Ugarte, Eriksen, Amad, Fernandes, Zirkzee.

Brighton XI: Verbruggen, Veltman, van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Baleba, Minteh, O’Riley, Rutter, Mitoma; Pedro.

What time is kick-off?

Kick-off at Old Trafford will be at 14:00 GMT on Sunday 19th January 2025.

Who is the referee?

Peter Bankes will be the match official. He will be assisted by Eddie Smart and Nick Greenhalgh while Robert Jones will be the fourth official. The VAR will be Craig Pawson and he will be assisted by Steve Meredith.