Rúben Amorim may choose to bench Harry Maguire despite his Liverpool heroics as Manchester United welcome Brighton to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
Following a fantastic 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield last weekend, Manchester United return to Old Trafford for a tough Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Rúben Amorim’s campaign has been mixed, with disappointing defeats to Brentford and Grimsby Town casting doubt on his long-term position at the helm.
However, the win on Merseyside — United’s first at Anfield in almost ten years and their second successive league victory — has given the squad and supporters fresh hope.
That optimism will be tested, though, as Brighton have often caused United problems, and Amorim will be keen to avenge last season’s 3-1 defeat to Fabian Hürzler’s side at Old Trafford.
Amorim could make three changes vs Brighton
With Brighton set to pose a significantly different test for United compared to the Liverpool fixture, Amorim may look to make three changes to the starting XI he selects on Saturday afternoon.
However, after two fantastic performances across his United career to date, Senne Lammens is not one of these. The 23-year-old Belgian has been brilliant since arriving at United, and is now the clear No. 1 choice in goal under Amorim.
However, one defender who may be dropped is Harry Maguire. Despite his Player of the Match display at Anfield last week, he has trouble defending with large spaces behind him, which is likely to happen against Brighton. He also suffered a knock during the week, putting him in doubt for a start.
Instead, Leny Yoro is often “top class” in defensive transitional situations, so could replace the veteran Englishman in the side. The 19-year-old would likely play on the right of the back three, with Matthijs de Ligt in the middle and Luke Shaw on the left.
Diogo Dalot started at left wing-back against Liverpool, but his poor display could see Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu return to the side. At the same time, Amad is expected to remain on the right flank as he continues to develop a fantastic relationship with Bryan Mbeumo.
As for the midfield, there is the option to rest Bruno Fernandes and play Kobbie Mainooo after the former looked visibly exhausted against Liverpool, but this is unlikely. Casemiro was fantastic last weekend and is likely to remain alongside his club captain in the middle of the park.
The front line is where one more change could happen. Matheus Cunha started up front against Liverpool and, barring scoring, was nearly perfect. However, with Brighton set to play a deeper line with less physically imposing defenders than Virgil van Dijk, Benjamin Šeško would suit the position better.
However, Cunha is still likely to start, just on the left flank, with Mbeumo following up on the right-hand side. This would mean that Mason Mount would need to be dropped to the bench after he suffered a knock against Liverpool, but could certainly still make an impact in the second half.
United predicted XI vs Brighton
Lammens, Yoro, De Ligt, Shaw, Amad, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dorgu, Mbeumo, Šeško, Cunha.
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