Brighton v Manchester United: Premier League – live

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The teams are out! Brighton in their blue and white stripes, United in red with black shorts. A fine atmosphere at the Amex, as Brighton look to win three on the bounce against United in the league for the first time in history. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes … meanwhile let Peter Oh whet your appetite further: “With United’s Brazilian trident of Antony, Casemiro and Fred squaring up against Brighton’s contingent from the rest of South America - Caicedo and Estupinan from Ecuador, Paraguay’s Enciso, and Argentinians Buonanotte and Mac Allister - this promises to be almost as spicy as a Conmebol World Cup qualifier or Copa America grudge match!”

Roberto De Zerbi speaks to Sky Sports. “Pascal Gross has a small muscular problem but I hope he can play the next game on Monday … we are still disappointed [about the FA Cup semi-final] but the football goes on … we have to think only about this game … only our target in the Premier League … we want to play well and we want to win … when we play against this level of team, it is still very tough to win … but we are a good team and we are playing well … we want to achieve our target and today we play against Manchester United, but in our head, nothing changes.”

A reminder where both teams start the match. A win for United tonight would see them leapfrog Newcastle United into third, and pull away from fifth-placed Liverpool, who have surely timed their top-four run far too late. Brighton also have an outside shout of a top-four finish, though finishing in the Europa League places is a much more realistic goal; should they grab all three points this evening, they’ll rise to sixth with two games in hand on Liverpool.

Erik ten Hag speaks to BT Sport (after presenting pundit Paul Ince with a bottle of red): “We have a tough game … we are looking forward to the challenge … we like tests … we like good teams like Brighton … we created many chances [in the FA Cup semi] … it was a really good game … it was up and down, and I expect today to be the same … every game is important and we have to win … every game we want to do better … Villa were a really good opponent … we played a good game … but it’s all gone, and today we have to prove it again … we have to do better [away from home] and today we have a chance … I think it will come … you want to be in the top four, we are now in the top four, so you can also say that we have done something good … we have six games to go and a cup final … we want to keep everyone on board.”

He’s then quizzed about the plonk he gave away. “It is not about expensive, it is about the taste.” An immutable law regarding all beverages that has echoed down the ages.

Brighton made five changes ahead of the 6-0 win over Wolves; they make four today. Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo, Kaoru Mitoma and Facundo Buonanotte replace Deniz Undav and Solly March, who drop to the bench, and Joel Veltman and Pascal Gross, who miss out altogether.

Manchester United also make four changes tonight, following their 1-0 win over Aston Villa. Antony, Fred, Anthony Martial and Aaron Wan-Bissaka replace Jadon Sancho, Christian Eriksen, Marcel Sabitzer and Tyrell Malacia, all of whom drop to the bench.

The teams

Brighton and Hove Albion: Steele, Estupinan, Dunk, Webster, Buonanotte, Caicedo, Gilmour, Enciso, Mitoma, Mac Allister, Welbeck.
Subs: Sanchez, Colwill, Van Hecke, Offiah, March, Undav, Moran, Ayari, Peupion.

Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Shaw, Dalot, Fred, Casemiro, Fernandes, Antony, Martial, Rashford.
Subs: Butland, Maguire, Malacia, Williams, Eriksen, Pellistri, Sabitzer, Sancho, Weghorst.

Referee: Andre Marriner

Preamble

This fixture is rarely boring. Since Brighton returned to the top flight in 2017, it’s finished 1-0, 3-2, 0-3, 2-3 (with a winner scored after the final whistle had been blown) and 4-0. If that’s not intriguingly unpredictable enough, let’s factor in some current-season narrative: Brighton’s 2-1 win at Old Trafford on the opening day of the season, Manchester United’s penalty shoot-out victory in the FA Cup semi-final a mere 11 days ago, Brighton’s bid for European football, and United’s desire to lock down their Champions League place ASAP. All told, everything’s set up for a real humdinger down on the south coast. Kick off at the Amex is 8pm BST. It’s on!