It will be interesting to see the starting lineup from Jose Mourinho, with Alexis Sanchez not travelling with the squad for Manchester United vs Brighton.
Manchester United will be gearing up for an interesting away match at the Amex Stadium as they face Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday. Jose Mourinho though, will have to make an intriguing matchday selection, with Alexis Sanchez not travelling with the squad.
As far as the goalkeeping area is concerned, David De Gea is likely to start again between the posts and Jose Mourinho placed his trust behind the Spaniard in his pre-match conference. The Portuguese added that De Gea should be signing a new long-term contract at the club.
Jose Mourinho provided positive updates as regards Antonio Valencia, Nemanja Matic and Jesse Lingard. While the first two players suffered injuries in the pre-season, Lingard is a late addition to the squad, having only recently returned from the extended break, thanks to his participation in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
“Lingard, Matic and Valencia have been training with the team since yesterday [Thursday]. [They are] fully fit but not yet [ready] to play or even to be selected, I think, and that’s it.”
The back four should ideally remain intact, with Jose Mourinho also taking some time to highlight the importance of Victor Lindelof within the setup. The Swede is into his second season at Manchester United and the Portuguese stated that he expects him to be more comfortable with Premier League football.
Mourinho also hailed Lindelof as the best technical defender within the squad while also highlighting that the player had already given good performances in the 2017-18 season, albeit in European competitions.
The midfield three should also remain the same, with Andreas Pereira doing the job of Nemanja Matic till he returns from injury. Fred will accompany Paul Pogba in the midfield three, with the Frenchman set to retain the armband for now, at least until Valencia returns into the starting lineup.
The forward line is the only one that is subject to change. Jose Mourinho highlighted the fact that the players who arrived late after the 2018 FIFA World Cup are now fitter, thanks to the extended nine-day difference between the first match and the fixture against Brighton, possibly hinting at starting a few of them.
Romelu Lukaku should be one of them, with Marcus Rashford not really managing to set the field alight against Leicester. Juan Mata should have done enough to fend off Jesse Lingard for the spot on the right. It is the position on the left that will be really intriguing.
Alexis Sanchez has not travelled with the squad and unless he does end up joining with the squad, it should be a toss-up between Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. The fans would love to see Martial start after all the talk of a rift between Mourinho and the player along with consistent rumours linking the Frenchman to an exit.
