Here we go again! Manchester United are back in Premier League action this evening. Old Trafford will host Graham Potter’s Brighton, as the Red Devils look to secure the all important three points in the fight for top four. Let’s have a look at what we might expect to see in this match.
Opposition
Brighton and Hove Albion come into this game with quite a mixed bag of form. In their last six matches across all competitions they have two wins, three draws and one loss. The Seagulls are doing pretty well for them this season. Graham Potter seems to be doing very well down there and getting a tune out of most of his players. He currently has them sat in 9th place, with a win over Manchester United set to take them past Tottenham into 8th.
Potter has tended to favour a three at the back formation, with a packed midfield and a split striker system. Whether that will be a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-1-2 with a more conventional number 10 we shall see, or more recently we have seen a 3-4-2-1 with two wider creative players in behind the number 9. Regardless, I expect to see Robert Sánchez in net. With a back three of Joël Veltman, Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster. At wing-back we will most likely see Marc Cucurella on the left and Tariq Lamptey on the right. In central midfield we will no doubt have Yves Bissouma alongside Jakub Moder. For the more creative areas I think Potter will go for Alexis Mac Allister and Leandro Trossard, with Neal Maupay up front.
Manchester United
The same things keep happening. In their past three games, Manchester United have taken an early lead and then switched off in the second half to let the opposition back in. Of those three games we have drawn two of them and the FA Cup game was lost on penalties. We need to start putting chances away, putting more than one goal past teams. And ultimately, we need to stop conceding simple chances and letting teams have an easy way back into the game.
What is more frustrating about this whole situation is that in this period we have probably seen some of the better performances from the team this season. Granted that isn’t the highest bar, but what we have seen is that for periods of matches we can control the game and create chances. The problems have come in finishing those chances and then allowing teams an easy route back into the game. Things desperately need to change.
Line-up
With that in mind here is how I think Ralf Rangnick will line the players up on Tuesday evening. Ralf has stuck with the 4-3-3 formation which has sometimes switched to a 4-2-3-1 in defence. David de Gea in net goes without saying. Raphael Varane as one the of centre-backs is a guarantee, with some of the recent costly mistakes, I would like to see Victor Lindelöf come in for Harry Maguire. Whether Ralf will go for this is a separate issue. At left-back, Alex Telles has returned from being out with covid and could replace Luke Shaw who hasn’t exactly grasped this opportunity to prove himself yet again. Diogo Dalot looks like a mainstay at right-back for Ralf Rangnick.
In the midfield we have seen McTominay alongside Bruno and Pogba. With this trio, there is definitely defensive worries. Pogba playing deep can take too long on the ball and can lose possession in dangerous areas. And then there are times when McTominay gets caught out of position and can look lost in that defensive midfield role. The creativity in this midfield however is something that has seen us create this abundance of chances in the past three games, despite the failure to convert said chances.
On the left I think we could see Anthony Elanga replace Marcus Rashford, just from a rest and rotation point of view. And then on that right hand side, it has to be Jadon Sancho. In this run of poor results and questionable performances, Jadon Sancho has stepped up and been a beacon of hope. His creativity and energy on either wing has been indispensable. And then up top, it will more than likely be Cristiano Ronaldo. Who in recent times has somewhat flattered to deceive. This being his longest goal drought since 2009. Despite that I’m sure he will return to his goal scoring ways.
Score prediction
The main thing that we need to see from this game is three points. As much as we would all like to see us build from these good performances we’ve seen lately. If they aren’t converted into wins any time soon, we could be in more trouble. I cannot see Manchester United keeping a clean sheet, although perhaps if we see Lindelöf in rather than Maguire we might see fewer of those costly mistakes. With that in mind, I am going for a 2-1 United win. I have no doubt that we will switch off and concede at some point. Hopefully we can bounce back and get the win.