Manchester United vs Brighton preview: Can Ruben Amorim record a third successive Premier League win?

Rejuvenated Manchester United welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Old Trafford on Saturday evening in a thrilling Premier League encounter.

The Red Devils defeated champions Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield last time out, as Ruben Amorim recorded back-to-back victories in the Premier League since his appointment 11 months ago.

Brighton secured a 2-1 victory against Newcastle United last time out thanks to Danny Welbeck’s double.

Match preview

Manchester United have lost six of their last seven league games against Brighton (W1), double the amount they’d lost against them in their first 17 league meetings (W12 D2 L3).

Brighton have made Old Trafford a happy hunting ground, winning on their last three visits to United in the Premier League.

The last side to win more consecutive league visits to Old Trafford was Manchester City between 1968 and 1972 (5), and Fabian Hurzeler’s men will hope to take a step closer to that run on Saturday.

Thanks to a 2-0 win against Sunderland and a 2-1 win against Liverpool, Manchester United have won consecutive Premier League games under Amorim for the first time. They last won three in a row in May/August 2024, while they last did so in the same season in February earlier that year (4).

The Red Devils have won their last three Premier League home games, as many as in their previous 13 at Old Trafford (D2 L8). They last won more consecutively between April and August 2023 (8), though that run was stopped by a 3-1 defeat to Brighton.

Brighton have kept just one clean sheet in their last 20 Premier League games, a 2-0 win at Wolves in May. The Seagulls have lost just two of their last 13 league games, however (W7 D4).

Bruno Fernandes has just three goal involvements in the Premier League this season (2 goals, 1 assist), though these have been worth six points to Manchester United.

Seagulls’ Welbeck has scored four goals in his last three Premier League games, more than he had in his previous 15 (3). With braces against Chelsea and Newcastle in this run, this is only the third season in which he’s scored multiple goals in more than one game after 2013/14 (2) and 2017/18 (2).

Red Devils’ Bryan Mbeumo has only been involved in more Premier League goals against Southampton (8) than he has against Brighton (6 – 3 goals, 3 assists), with all six of these coming in his last four starts against the Seagulls.

Team news

Manchester United

Lisandro Martinez has made progress in his recovery from a knee injury sustained in February, but he misses out.

Noussair Mazraoui and Ayden Heaven made the bench against Liverpool last week and could feature.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Kaoru Mitoma and Diego Gomez are battling to be fit for the visitors, while Joel Veltman (calf) and Brajan Gruda (knee) will be assessed ahead of their trip to Manchester.

Jack Hinshelwood, Solly March and Adam Webster are all unavailable for selection due to injury.

Predicted line-ups

Manchester United: Senne Lammens, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Manuel Ugarte, Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo, Diogo Dalot, Bryan Mbeumo, Mason Mount, Matheus Cunha.

Brighton & Hove Albion: Bart Verbruggen, Mats Wieffer, Jan Paul van Hecke, Lewis Dunk, Ferdi Kadioglu, Carlos Baleba, Yasin Ayari, Yankuba Minteh, Georginio Rutter, Maxim De Cuyper, Danny Welbeck.