Brighton and Hove Albion welcome Manchester United for the first fixture of the Premier League weekend as two teams that underwent major summer changes go head-to-head.
Fabian Hürzeler’s side started their new era with an emphatic 3-0 win at Everton to sit top of the Premier League after the first gameweek, while Erik ten Hag’s United squeaked a nervy 1-0 win in their curtain-raising game against Fulham.
These matches served as a fascinating exhibit of both teams' new signings, while also hinting at the tactical changes that both managers are making.
With a great contest in store between two sides who have never drawn with each other in the Premier League, there is much to explore in terms of the tactical battle.
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Overwhelming attacking options
On the back of the club’s outstanding summer transfer business, there has been much discussion about Brighton’s attacking depth of late.
In the last two months, the Seagulls have added Yankuba Minteh, Amario Cozier-Duberry and their latest signing - for a club-record fee of £40 million - Georginio Rutter, creating a fearsome array of options.
Last weekend, Minteh made his Premier League debut alongside Kaoru Mitoma, Danny Welbeck and João Pedro.
Simon Adingra, Jeremy Sarmiento and Mark O’Mahony were on the bench at Goodison Park, while those left out of the matchday squad included new signing Brajan Gruda and the injured trio Julio Enciso, Evan Ferguson and Solly March.
Furthermore, the club have cut extra options by sending Facundo Buonanotte, Ibrahim Osman and Abdallah Sima out on loan this season.
With so many talented forwards to choose between, there will be a hot debate before each match about who starts.
In this match, all of Brighton’s options will be licking their lips against a United defence that only kept three clean sheets in their last 21 matches of the 2023-24 Premier League season.
When the sides met in the final game of last season, United’s defence was much different, however, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Diogo Dalot playing either side of Casemiro and Lisandro Martínez.
This time, they will be expected to start both of their new signings from Bayern Munich, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, who offer a huge amount of top-level experience.
Brighton will hope to offer a different test from a more physical Fulham attack, and the Seagulls’ upstarts Minteh and Pedro will be crucial alongside the wily Mitoma.
Then, there is a choice between Welbeck - who netted his 24th Premier League goal for Brighton against Everton - and Rutter. The former will be the favourite to start given his considerable nous in these fixtures, but it would not be unlike Hürzeler to spring a surprise.
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Full-back battles
Of even greater importance to Brighton’s chances of picking up points in a fixture they have won six of the 14 times it has been played in the Premier League, is who they select at full-back.
On the right, it seems an automatic selection to retain Joël Veltman after he started the season solidly against Everton.
With Tariq Lamptey still a few weeks away from returning, the only other options would be Jack Hinshelwood, James Milner or Odeluga Offiah.
Hinshelwood, however, will be the favourite to start at left-back after his appearance there last weekend.
That was a surprise selection at the time, but with the presumed starter, Valentín Barco, now departing on loan to Sevilla, Hinshelwood has more time to settle in.
His only rivals for the role until Pervis Estupiñán returns from ankle surgery are Carlos Baleba and Imari Samuels, neither of whom have played any Premier League minutes in that role.
Tasked with containing Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford, or Amad Diallo and Antony should it come to that, Veltman and Hinshelwood will have a huge test this weekend.
Full-backs play a key part in Hürzeler’s system, and with both still learning the extra requirements of their roles, how they perform will be a key metric of Brighton’s output.
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Giving up possession
When compared with their Pep Guardiola-lite possession approach last season, Brighton’s outing at Everton last weekend turned in some fascinating statistics.
In a flat comparison between their trip to Goodison Park under Roberto de Zerbi in November 2023 and Hürzeler’s first game, the Seagulls’ possession share fell by 18.1% - from a staggering 79.9% under the Italian to 61.8% last week.
This reflected a fall from 1,026 touches to a more balanced 744, while their number of attempted passes was slashed from 866 to 575.
Interestingly, a more balanced and open game suited Brighton much better, with their number of key passes doubling from five to 10 on this occasion, and the result improving from a frustrating 1-1 to an emphatic 3-0.
Granted, the Everton match in 2023 was an extreme example of de Zerbi’s possession-heavy philosophy.
The Seagulls attempted an average of 619.66 passes per match in last season’s Premier League; an increase on the 560 they averaged in de Zerbi’s first season, 2022-23.
However, their return to type this season signifies a willingness to cede possession to make long-term gains.
Hürzeler is unafraid to allow other teams opportunities if it opens up space for his expansive attacking approach, and that is exactly what happened against a slow Everton backline.
United have a similar preference to play on the counter-attack under ten Hag, so if it becomes a full-throttle match at The Amex, conversion will be key.
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Tactical tinkering
Besides who starts the game and how both teams initially set up, this contest is likely to be won in the closing stages as both managers learn and adapt.
Ten Hag has shown a willingness to change his team for the occasion before, playing without a striker in the FA Cup Final and with a box midfield against Brighton at the end of last season.
So far, it is uncertain what Hürzeler’s ‘Plan B’ is, and that may be tested on his home managerial debut.
Off the bench, Brighton have considerable options to change the game. With Rutter and Gruda to join Baleba, Yasin Ayari, Sarmiento, Adingra and O’Mahony, Hürzeler must choose his substitutions wisely when the likes of James Milner and Welbeck need rests.
Brighton may go more compact if protecting a lead, and Adam Webster could be required to replace a defender, or even slot into a back three late on. Meanwhile, with Igor Julio, Offiah and Samuels the only other defensive options, a change of formation could cause issues.
Whatever the circumstances are, the Seagulls must be fluid.
If they need to abandon their starting 4-2-3-1 formation, the players will need to listen carefully and stick to their task.
Undoubtedly, the squad will have been working on this in training, but the match situation is something else.
Brighton face their toughest test for some time from United this weekend, and it should produce an unmissable watch.
