Ole Gunnar Solskjaer takes his Manchester United team to Brighton looking to build on promising form since the restart of football.
Many things have changed, but the seriousness of the task will remain – Brighton have enjoyed home wins against United in each of their Premier League seasons and so Solskjaer’s side will have to be on top form to take full points and remain in the hunt for Champions League spaces.
Eight changes were made to the starting line-up against Norwich at the weekend and it can be expected that another eight will be made as United return to their strongest line-up.
The issue may be complicated by the fact that United played 120 minutes against the Canaries and were made to work for the win, coming as late as it did.
One player who played the full ninety minutes who might expect to miss out will be Luke Shaw, whose performance came in for mixed reviews.
“Luke is struggling for me,” former United defender Paul Parker said on this week’s Talking Devils podcast. “Defensively he always seems to be caught out of position and then he’s tracking back facing his own goal. One of the reasons why, and this might sound harsh – he’s always cutting inside because it’s an easier run than going outside. But Luke is running into cul-de-sacs all the time because he’s left-footed. Teams know what he’s doing. They offer him the opportunity to cross it but he never does. And then they counter attack into the big space he leaves.”
Shaw is unlikely to feature tonight, with Brandon Williams the probable replacement. Elsewhere much of the team picks itself.
The big question mark will remain over Dan James and Mason Greenwood – but due to the latter’s somewhat flat performances in the last two games, it should be expected that he is returned to the bench in order to keep him as an impact sub.
Harry Maguire has played every minute so far but a trip to Brighton, whilst likely to test his fitness, is not the game to take him out.
The other big question is over the midfield and how defensive United should be. Perhaps James might be rested in place of a holding midfielder but we feel Ole will be bold in pursuit of three points.
Predicted team :
De Gea
Wan-Bissaka Lindelof Maguire Williams
Matic Pogba
James Fernandes Rashford
Martial
