Man United will be without 7 first-teamers for the Brighton game, while 2 more remain doubtful.
Manchester United Football Club return after the international break, in front of a packed out Old Trafford as Brighton visit.
Cast your mind back to this fixture last season. Brighton battered United for 90 minutes, eventually running out winners. Make no mistake about it, they’re coming to Manchester fully intent on doing the same this time around.
United will have to be at their best to avoid defeat, while their start to the campaign leaves plenty of cause for concern.
Ahead of the match, United have offered us some early team news via the club website. They’ve confirmed that they’ll be 7 first-team absences for the Brighton game through injury, while two more are doubtful.
Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount, Tyrell Malacia, Tom Heaton and Amad are all still missing.
While both Sofyan Amrabat and Lisandro Martinez remain the doubts. There is hope that the former may be fit enough to play some part here, though I do worry about the availability of our Argentine centre-back.
These types of matches are tough at the best of times. When your squad is decimated by injury (and other off-field problems, Antony, Sancho), it becomes even more difficult to secure a positive result.
The verdict
I just hope that the squad can rally around the manager here, though in the modern-day game, I do worry about whether they’ll start to turn on the boss with a couple more unexpected losses…
Any kind of win here would be massive. You have to pick up the victory by any means necessary. Be it a last-minute own goal that goes in off a Brighton player’s backside, or a 5-0 drubbing with a Rasmus Hojlund hat-trick. Just win the game!
Do you think we’ll see either Martinez or Amrabat out there this weekend? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.