Michael Carrick will aim to celebrate being confirmed as Manchester United‘s permanent manager with a victory on the final day of the Premier League season that could ruin Brighton and Hove Albion‘s hopes of European football.
United made it official this week that Carrick will remain in post after an excellent interim spell in charge that has seen him guide the Red Devils to a third-place finish, securing Champions League football next season.
Carrick’s men have nothing but pride to play for as an impressive season comes to a close, yet they could spoil the party for their hosts.
Brighton could qualify for the Champions League if they prevail and Bournemouth fail to win at Nottingham Forest, though a sixth-place finish being good enough for the Champions League is dependent on Liverpool leapfrogging Aston Villa into fourth place.
However, depending on results at Anfield, where Brentford are the visitors, and at the Stadium of Light between Sunderland and Chelsea, failure to win could see Brighton drop out of the top eight and miss out on Europe altogether.
The Seagulls have lost two of their last three games, their most recent win over relegated Wolves coming either side of defeats at Newcastle United and Leeds United.
But Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler knows his side are capable of getting the result they desire, having already beaten the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea at home this season.
“We can achieve it if we stick to our approach through the whole season, stick to our principles, stick to good preparation, stick to a good togetherness,” Hurzeler told his pre-match press conference. Then we definitely can beat every team at home. But we know it will be a big challenge against Manchester United.
“Manchester United play an outstanding season, especially since Carrick arrived. They really look like a team. They have individual quality, so we have to play at our highest level to win this game. But we try to focus on our approach. We try to focus on our preparation, then we have a big chance.”
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Team news for Brighton v Manchester United
Brighton are set to be without Kaoru Mitoma again because of a hamstring injury that is expected to keep him out of the World Cup.
Adam Webster and Stefanos Tzimas (both knee) are out.
Benjamin Sesko and Matthijs de Ligt are United’s two absentees.
Predicted line-ups for Brighton v Manchester United
Manchester United: Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Mainoo; Diallo, Fernandes, Cunha; Mbeumo.
Brighton & Hove Albion: Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu; Baleba, Gross; Minteh, Hinshelwood, De Cuyper; Rutter.
Where to watch Brighton v Manchester United: TV and online streams
Brighton v Manchester United kicks off at 4:00pm. It will be broadcast on Sky Sports Tennis and will available to stream via Sky Go.
Stats for Brighton v Manchester United
- Brighton have the highest win rate against United of any side in Premier League history both overall (47% – 8/17) and at home (63% – 5/8).
- United are looking to complete the double over Brighton for the first time since 2020-21, though they have lost six of their last eight league matches against the Seagulls (W2).
- None of the 17 Premier League meetings between Brighton (8 wins) and United (9) have been drawn, the most played fixture in the competition to never finish level.
- Brighton have lost their final league match in five of their eight seasons in the Premier League (W3), including a 2-0 home loss to United in 2023-24.
- Only Arsenal (24) have won their final Premier League game of the season more often than United (23), while the Red Devils have lost the fewest final day games of any side to compete in at least 20 campaigns (4).
- Brighton are looking to win four consecutive home games for the first time in the top-flight; this is the seventh time they have won three in a row at home at this level, losing their next match on five of the previous six instances (D1 – v Swansea in October 1982).
- Carrick has the best points-per-game average of any manager in the Premier League this season (2.25 – P16 W11 D3 L2). It is the best by any United manager in a league season since Alex Ferguson’s final campaign in 2012-13 (2.34) – a season in which Carrick played 36 times for the Red Devils, his most in a top-flight campaign.
- In his career in English football, against no side has Brighton’s Danny Welbeck scored more goals in all competitions than he has against his former side United (8). It will be his 400th Premier League appearance if he plays in this game, the 46th player to reach this milestone.
- Against no side has United’s Bryan Mbeumo been involved in more Premier League goals than he has against Brighton (5 goals, 3 assists), with these eight all coming in his last five starts against the Seagulls.
Prediction for Brighton v Manchester United
Brighton are a very tough nut to crack at home, but there’s a resiliency about United under Carrick that was lacking beforehand. They should have enough to get at least a point from their finale.
Prediction: Brighton 1-1 Manchester United
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