Manchester United travel to first place Brighton & Hove Albion for the first kickoff of the next round of Premier League fixtures. That’s right- top of the table Brighton, as the Seagulls have three points (as do seven other teams in the table, including United), but they are the only side with a +3 goal differential.
After a club history breakthrough season in 2022-23, Brighton took a step back last season, so this will be a critical season.
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester United FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. Aug 24, 12:30pm, Falmer Stadium, Brighton & Hove, UK
United Preview Material: Starting XI Prediction Team News
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
PL Position, Form: Manchester United 7th, 3 pts, W Brighton 1st, 3 pts, W
Google Result Probability: Manchester United 38% Draw 25% Brighton 37%
Let’s see how the Seagulls can function in life after Roberto de Zerbi. As for United, they got a game winning goal from summer signing Joshua Zirkzee on opening day, as the Dutchman came off the bench late, in order to provide the match’s only scoring strike. We’re thinking he gets inserted into the first team here.
That would pushing Bruno Fernandes back into his natural attacking midfield position, instead of the center forward spot where we saw him last week. And that means someone needs to be dropped from the starting attack and head to the bench. We’re predicting that’s Amad Diallo.
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction at Brighton
Andre Onana; Noussair Mazraoui, Lisandro Martinez, Matthijs de Ligt, Diogo Dalot; Kobbie Mainoo, Casemiro; Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho; Joshua Zirkzee
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.