Man Utd vs Brighton preview: Kickoff time, team news, how to follow, stream | football news
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has warned of an ongoing ‘rollercoaster’ as the club’s whirlwind rebuilding effort continues.
Who: manchester united vs brighton
What: English Premier League
Where: Old Trafford, Manchester, United Kingdom
When: On Sunday at 2pm (16:00 GMT).
Follow Al Jazeera’s live build-up and then watch our text and photo stream of the match.
Ruben Amorim has warned that Manchester United’s season will be a “rollercoaster” ride as the players learn to adapt to his system following a dramatic 3-1 win against Southampton.
Premier League basement club Southampton were on the verge of a shock win at Old Trafford on Thursday before Amad Diallo scored a brilliant 12-minute hat-trick to turn the game around.
This was followed by a tough 2–2 draw with Liverpool and a morale-boosting FA Cup win against Arsenal.
Amorim, who took over from the sacked Eric ten Hag in November, had earlier warned there would be a “storm coming” ahead of a run of six defeats in eight matches.
At the age of 22 years and 189 days, Amad became Man Utd’s youngest ever hat-trick scorer at Old Trafford in the Premier League. pic.twitter.com/Bmd1a6CXfd
– Premier League (@premierleague) 16 January 2025
The 39-year-old Portuguese boss predicted more turmoil after a poor display against struggling Saints. Despite the win, United, who host Brighton on Sunday, are still 12th in the Premier League table.
“I think it’s going to be tough until the end of the season,” Amorim said. “It’s going to be a bit of a rollercoaster. Then it depends on how long you have to train. We are still in the (FA) Cup and we have UEFA games for the Europa League.
“Then it is also important to focus on next Thursday (when Scottish giants Rangers visit Old Trafford) to win and try to stay in the top eight.”
He added: “We trained together seven times, 14, 15 games. It’s really tough, but we have to keep going and try to win it. Sometimes he played well, sometimes he played badly.”
Man of this time 🏆⚽️
@Amaddiallo_19 #MUFC , #munsau pic.twitter.com/5YTq79IL6U
– Manchester United (@ManUtd) 16 January 2025
Amorim admitted that his team did not play well against Southampton and indicated that many players were tired, including Manuel Ugarte, whose own goal at the end of the first half had given the visitors the lead.
“You (the media) are focused on what I said about Ugarte,” he said. “Ugarte was tired because he had a great performance against Liverpool.
“If you look at the game against Arsenal, probably Ugarte and Bruno (Fernandes) were the best players against Liverpool.
“He didn’t play against Newcastle. I think it happens to all players in the Premier League.”
manchester united team news
Diogo Dalot returns from a one-match ban, but Mason Mount and Luke Shaw are absent through injury.
The midfield may give Amorim pause for thought as Kobi Manu and Manuel Ugarte were both substituted against Southampton due to fatigue.
brighton team news
Former Manchester City midfielder James Milner is out due to injury. Ferdi Kadioglu is also sidelined with a knock, but Georginio Rutter could return to the starting 11 after making a goalscoring appearance as a sub at Ipswich.
head to head
If Brighton takes all three points on Sunday, it will become the second team to win three consecutive Premier League matches against Manchester United.
The only other side to do so is Manchester City, who have achieved the feat twice.
It has been an overall positive performance for the Seagulls, who have won five of their last six games against the Red Devils.
