Manchester United will be looking to build on their opening-day win over Leicester City when they make their first away trip of the Premier League campaign to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho will be sure to remind his players that the corresponding fixture last season was one of three away defeats to the trio of newly-promoted clubs and Albion will present another potential upset for his side this time around.
United finished 19 points adrift of champions Manchester City last term, and victories over teams such as Brighton will be considered imperative if they are to narrow that gap and challenge for the title in 2018-19.
Man Utd Injuries
Mourinho is without the six players who missed the win over Leicester through injury.
Nemanja Matic recently underwent surgery on an abdominal issue picked up at the World Cup, while Diogo Dalot has also been under the knife due to a knee problem and he remains some way off his club debut. Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo also had surgeries after being injured on international duty.
Antonio Valencia limped out of the pre-season draw with San Jose Earthquakes with a calf injury, while Ander Herrera is out after developing a hamstring problem during the loss to Bayern Munich in United's final summer fixture.
Man Utd Suspensions
Neither team has any suspension concerns carried over from the end of last season, while none of their players were sent off in their opening game of this term.
Man Utd Starting Line-Up
The big surprise in the line-up is the absence of Alexis Sanchez, who has been replaced by France international Anthony Martial on the left wing.
Paul Pogba's man-of-the-match display against Leicester came on short rest and he is likely to have more energy in his legs for the trip to Brighton. There are also starts for Romelu Lukaku and Ashley Young after both reached the third-place play-off with their countries in Russia this summer.
Elsewhere, Marcus Rashford loses out to Juan Mata for the spot on the right while Luke Shaw keeps his place ahead of Matteo Darmian following a goalscoring performance on opening night.
The game does, however, come too soon for Jesse Lingard, who is unlikely to be involved as he continues to build up his fitness following his post-World Cup holiday.
Man Utd starting XI: De Gea, Young, Lindelof, Bailly, Shaw, Pereira, Fred, Pogba, Martial, Mata, Lukaku.
Brighton Team News
Albion boss Chris Hughton has the task of steering his side clear of second-season syndrome following a hugely impressive first campaign in the Premier League.
They suffered a disappointing 2-0 loss to Watford last week but will be hoping to carry over their superb home form of 2017-18 when they welcome United on Sunday.
There has been a huge turnover of fringe players at the Amex over the summer as the likes of Connor Goldson, Jamie Murphy and Tim Krul have all been shipped out and in their place have come a number of anticipated upgrades including Iran World Cup star Alireza Jahanbakhsh, former Barcelona right-back Martin Montoya and RB Leipzig's Brazilian left-back Bernardo.
While expectations will not be massively increased among the Albion fan base, there will be a clear desire to repeat nights like the one in May which saw the home side clinch Premier League survival with a memorable 1-0 win over Manchester United.
Brighton made two changes to their starting XI for Sunday's game, as Montoya makes his debut and Gaetan Bong returns.
Brighton starting XI: Ryan, Montoya, Dunk, Duffy, Bong, Knockaert, Stephens, Propper, March, Gross, Murray.
Getty Images
TV Channel & Kick-off time
The match at the Amex kicks off at 4pm BST on Sunday, with live coverage available in the UK on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event from 3:30pm. In the U.S. the game will be shown on NBCSN at 11am ET.
Best Opta Match facts
-
Brighton have won their last two home league games against Manchester United, with these games being spaced almost 36 years apart (1-0 in November 1982, 1-0 in May 2018).
-
In all competitions, Manchester United’s last away win against Brighton came in April 1982 (D1 L2 since), winning 1-0 thanks to a Ray Wilkins strike.
-
Manchester United failed to score in their last two away league games of 2017-18, including a 0-1 loss at Brighton. They last went three without a goal on the road in the Premier League in April 2005.
-
Man Utd’s French midfielder Paul Pogba scored the Red Devils’ first Premier League goal this season, a penalty against Leicester – Pogba has been involved in 26 league goals (12 goals, 14 assists) under Jose Mourinho, more than any other Man Utd player.
-
No Man Utd player has had more shots on target (2) or touches in the opposition box (3) in the Premier League this season than left-back Luke Shaw.
-
Brighton’s Pascal Gross has had a hand in six goals in his last seven Premier League games at the Amex Stadium (3 goals, 3 assists).
-
Man Utd forward Romelu Lukaku has scored against 17 of the current 20 Premier League sides – Brighton are one of the three he’s yet to score against (along with Cardiff and Wolves).