Manchester United are desperate to put things right in the 2022/23 Premier League season starting with a revenge-seeking game against Brighton at Old Trafford
The Red Devils hit a record low of points in the league history last season ending in sixth place while Brighton picked up the most number of points in their league history by finishing ninth.
MUN vs BHA Match Details
Date: Sunday, 7th August 2022
Time: 14:00 (BST)/ 18:30 (IST)
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
MUN vs BHA Match Preview
The less said about Manchester United’s football last season the better. The club wrestled to settle down between the ideas of two managers at a different time with a disjointed team and failed miserably. United finished a massive gap of 13 points from the top four place eliminating them from Champions League contention for the new season and recorded their worst ever tally in league history with 66 points managing only 16 wins while losing in 12 games. The Red Devils are now hoping their downfall ceases by appointing the most demanded coach in Europe, Erik Ten Haag. After his excellent work with Ajax in the Netherlands, the pressure is massive on the new boss to build a proper DNA inside the team filled with players not up to the standards of the club or low in confidence. Not that he had a pleasant time in his first weeks with Manchester United as the headline mostly rested on their Portuguese goal-scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo wanting out in search of Champions league football. In the middle of that chaos, United were able to secure the players of Ten Haag’s choice although the long-drawn race to sign Frenkie de Jong from FC Barcelona is going nowhere. The early preseason games have been promising even if the frantic end shows that nothing has revolutionised at this point. The main season could tell a different story if the players align with the manager’s demands and the new signing this time don’t react like the ones of last summer. Ten Haag also has a major decision to make on Ronaldo as he is likely to stay at the club after being rejected by other clubs in the market. For now, the manager wants his side to dress up properly for the season opener against an opposition that they overcome easily at home but were thrashed 4-0 in the last meeting. It will be morale-boosting if Ten Haag delivers the right result at Old Trafford on Sunday to give early hope to the fans wishing to see their team flourish under him.
The stock of Graham Potter’s brilliance at Brighton kept rising as the manager helped the Seagull to a record-high total of 51 points in an impressive season last time. Like Ten Haag, Potter is a highly regarded figure to go and manage a top side in near future. He will certainly do one day with these achievements in his CV. In the second half of the campaign, Brighton seemed to have lost their way by losing eight straight games and an unwanted fixture list to follow. However, the Seagulls turned their screw and directly made the top four race interesting by defeating the two prime candidates in Arsenal and Spurs in successive games. Soon Manchester United fell into their trap as well losing 4-0 back in May which became the biggest ever win in history for Brighton. One of the protagonists for that win, Marc Cucurella left for a club record fee in the summer, but it won’t be weakening this spirited side. Brighton closed down the season winning 3-1 at Amex again this time against Europe chasing West Ham killing the hammer’s dream to be in the Europa League. This has really been the gigantic performance some fans only dreamt about. The club has upgraded them with the arrivals of Julio Enciso, Simon Adingra and talented defender Levi Colwill on loan from Chelsea. Their preseason preparation has also been up to the mark with only one defeat to show and with their scoring problems seemingly washed away the team is ready for more success. Graham Potter will look for a top-half finish again as fighting for European football is difficult for the side just now. Even though they have beaten Manchester United, an unexpected team is in line to face them this time around. One thing that Brighton showed last season is that they are fearless and winning the away games against top sides further proves they shouldn’t be taken lightly by any case at any time.
Pre-season Form
MUN: DLDW
BRI: WLWD
MUN vs BHA Team News
Boss Erik Ten Hag has a decision to make on the forward line to replace Anthony Martial. The Frenchman suffered a hamstring problem heading into the opening weekend and is not available for the contest. In the absence of a true center-forward, the Dutch manager may be forced to use Cristiano Ronaldo to lead the line even though the Portuguese is not 100% fit for the game having spent only 45 minutes of the preseason with the club that too in the last friendly match few days ago. Marcus Rashford could also play that role but he would like to operate from his preferred left with Jadon Sancho making the runs from his usual right. In the attacking midfield role, Bruno Fernandes should retain his spot for playing most part of the preseason game ahead of the sensational signing of Christian Eriksen. At the back, right-back Diogo Dalot will start over Aaron Wan-Bissaka, whose future is up in the air, with new arrival Lisandro Martinez partnering Harry Maguire still captaining the side. Luke Shaw missed the last two preseason games through illness but will be in contention for this one. Anyways he won’t be displacing Tyrell Malacia making his official debut at left-back.
Brighton has only Jacob Moder out long-term due to a knee injury with the rest of the squad travelling to Old Trafford. The Argentinian Alexis Mac Allister is fit to start in midfield after shaking off a groin injury. The departure of Marc Cucurella to Chelsea will open the door for Solly March to play as a left wing-back giving the license to Leandro Trossard to push further in the attack. Ex-Manchester United player Danny Welbeck will start up front in place of Neal Maupey, attracting interest from Serie A club Salernitana.
MUN vs BHA Predicted Lineups
MUN: De Gea; Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia; Fred, Scott McTominay; Jadon Sancho, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford; Cristiano Ronaldo
BRI: Robert Sanchez; Joel Veltman, Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster; Pascal Gross, Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo, Solly March; Leondro Trossard, Enock Mwepu; Danny Welbeck
MUN vs BHA Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: R. Sanchez (8.5)
DEF: Webster (8.5), Martinez (8.5), Malacia (8.5)
MID: Mac Allister (8.5), Caicedo (8.5), Fernandes (9.5), Trossard (9)
FW: Sancho (9), Ronaldo (9.5), Rashford (9)
Captain: Jadon Sancho
Vice-captain: Leandro Trossard
