Roberto De Zerbi is taking his team up to Old Trafford where there will be a game involving two teams going completely different trajectories. Brighton is in the best moments of its 121-year history after getting the season off to a flier and Man United are in one of their worst moments, having taken just 6 points off their first 4 games and questions are now being asked of Erik Ten Hag and key players like Bruno Fernandes. Jadon Sancho has also released a statement after he was left out of the squad for the Arsenal game where he expressed his thoughts on Erik Ten Hag as well as this following domestic Violence claims winger Anthony looks set to miss this fixture.
How do United score?
Therefore United fans must be wondering where the goals will come from and they’ll have to come from Marcus Rashford. Following a fantastic season last year, the Englishman needs that form to roll onto this one otherwise United is in big trouble. However, with Joel Veltman likely to play at right-back it won’t be easy for Rashford.
However, following the performance of Rasmus Hojlund against Arsenal Brighton may face a different threat. United may look to use more of a long ball tactic due to the size and strength of Hojlund which is what they did towards the end of the Arsenal game. This could be a very effective tactic for United due to the passing ability of goalkeeper Andre Onana, the Seagulls like to play a high line and have a high press so Onana’s ability to bypass with short passes combined with his ability to play an accurate long ball could make United a very different threat.
How will Brighton defend?
De Zerbi won’t rest on his laurels though and will continue with the high press but it will be interesting to see how he intends to defend this attacking threat. De Zerbi likes to use man-to-man marking. He usually puts Jean Paul Van Hecke on the last man and it’s his job to stop the focal point of the opposition's attack whereas Lewis Dunk is tasked with winning loose balls and sweeping up behind the midfield. This was something he occasionally did during last year however his role has become more prevalent after losing chief ball winner Moises Caicedo. With the rising 4-3-3 this tactic becomes even more effective as teams tend to have one man in attack or have two wingers looking to cut in (when this happens De Zerbi will have Joel Veltman play a deeper role and do more defending).
However Manchester United is likely to pose more of a double-pronged attack with Rashford and Hojlund as opposed to the one-dimensional play we have seen from them this season. This way of attacking is very similar to Arsenal in terms of having a focal point up front and having someone high and wide, so for this De Zerbi packed out the midfield and used Lewis Dunk to man-mark Bukayo Saka and Levi Colwill to man-mark Gabriel Jesus. It’s expected that Van Hecke will mark Hojland and Dunk will mark Rashford and then they will have Evan Ferguson and his strike partner creating a box midfield to help Brighton keep hold of the ball and then create fast transitions. Playing this way it will also eradicate the threat of the long ball a bit as Brighton will have so many players in and around Hojlund so are likely to win any second ball.
How will Brighton attack?
This will also mean that Brighton will pose a different threat than what they usually do as they will play more directly and use the one-on-one capabilities of Solly March and Kauro Mitoma to get at Manchester United’s fullbacks and then receive support from the front two which will be harder to predict.
De Zerbi is not short of talent in that area of the pitch with experienced Danny Welbeck, he schooled Lisandro Martinez in this fixture last season on the Argentine's Premier League debut.
He also has record signing Joao Pedro and hat trick hero Evan Ferguson however a tendon injury makes him somewhat of a doubt. Also not to mention Ansu Fati, De Zerbi has said in interviews that the Spaniard is ready to play so we could see him get his first minutes in a Brighton shirt. Adam Lallana is another who could play in this role as that’s where he played last season before his injury.
Joao Pedro is expected to start, and he will be a real threat to United as he will suit this way of playing. His quality in tight areas will mean that he can release the likes of Solly March, Kauro Mitoma, and Pervis Estupinan. He can also use his one-on-one ability and his directness to drive Brighton forward. Due to Evan Ferguson’s injury, he probably won’t start and Ansu Fati might not start either so it could be up to Danny Welbeck to partner Pedro against his former club. Welbeck will also look to play in and around the midfield area to help combat the ball-winning capabilities of Casemeiro and new signing Nordin Amrabat.
Amrabat could potentially revolutionize United by allowing for more security in front of the defense due to his brilliance at winning the ball back so De Zerbi will look to create overloads in midfield by creating a box with the two defensive midfielders and two strikers where they will progress up the pitch together and then they’ll look to use the explosiveness of the two strikers to move up the pitch faster and also have threats in behind the defence.
