It is the final day of a Premier League season which has been a roller coaster for both Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester United, who have both been decimated by injuries and have struggled for form without some of their best players.
United currently sit in 8th, level on points with 7th-placed Newcastle United after they impressively beat the Magpies on Wednesday night following the return of their talisman Bruno Fernandes.
However, in the way of their pursuit of European football is Roberto de Zerbi's Brighton, who sit 10th and want to ensure they remain in the top half come full-time on Sunday evening.
Despite a disappointing defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday night, Albion will come into the game full of confidence, knowing that their record against United is fantastic.
The Seagulls have won the last four league meetings between these two and have a man in Pascal Gross who has a remarkable record against the Red Devils, with seven goals and an assist in 11 appearances against them.
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United's youngsters
Similarly to Brighton, after being plagued by injuries this season, ten Hag's side have had to rely on the quality of several young players to get them through matches, and it was no different in their 3-2 win over Newcastle on Wednesday night.
Amad Diallo started successive Premier League matches for the first time this season and he both set up 19-year-old Kobbie Mainoo for the opener and scored the second goal of the match, before young striker Rasmus Hojlund netted his ninth Premier League goal of what has been a mixed debut campaign.
In a backline that consists of the ageing Jonny Evans and Casemiro, United will be expected to rely on the pace of their young forwards on the counter-attack, being fed by Bruno Fernandes who has created 113 chances in the Premier League this season, more than any other player.
While United have struggled for consistency, Fernandes has not.
His absence in recent weeks has been more costly than any other injury they have suffered and with seven goals and three assists in his last seven appearances in all competitions, the Portuguese international comes into this one full of confidence.
Scoring goals was an issue for United in the early stages of the season, with Marcus Rashford struggling all season, but defence is an even bigger concern.
On average, both Brighton and United have conceded 1.6 goals per 90 minutes, the joint sixth-best in the league.
However, xG conceded stats suggest that the Red Devils have got lucky, with only the bottom three and West Ham having higher xG against numbers this season than their 68.4.
This highlights the importance of United's goalkeeper Andre Onana, who has made the most saves in the league this season (147).
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Brighton's threatening fullbacks
This game should see an abundance of chances for both sides, with Pascal Gross and Bruno Fernandes being the two best creators in the Premier League this season.
However, Brighton are beginning to create chances all over the pitch, not just through Der Kaiser.
With the return of Tariq Lamptey at right-back and the emergence of Argentinian wing-back Valentin Barco,, the Seagulls now pose a threat down either flank even in the absence of Pervis Estupinan, Jack Hinshelwood, Solly March and Karou Mitoma.
On Wednesday night, Lamptey created four chances from the right-back position (the most that game), and on top of that, he created a big chance for Gross who was unfortunate to miss.
Lamptey's pace caused havoc throughout the game, which also led to him being fouled three times; the most that game).
This proved Brighton's depth, beyond players like Joao Pedro, to cause problems in the final third.
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Midfield battle
That afternoon in September 2023, the Seagulls boasted 56% of possession and they will be hoping to dominate the Red Devils in a similar manner this Sunday, despite the lineups being expected to be very different.
United began that afternoon with a midfield diamond and it worked well in the early stages until De Zerbi's side figured it out and overloaded the wings through the overlapping runs of Lamptey.
This time around it is expected both will line up with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with United expected to play with Sofyan Amrabat, Mainoo and Fernandes.
