Can Manchester Be Red Again?

The Premier League’s most decorated team hosts Brighton on August 7th, at 9:00 am. This will be the first league match newly appointed manager Erik ten Hag will coach. The Dutch coach will look to bring back excitement and confidence to Old Trafford. For Manchester United, last season was underwhelming and disappointing as they finished in 6th place and did not qualify for the Champions League. To top it off, rivals Manchester City won the league and will look to repeat. Brighton on the other hand, finished last season in 9th place. Fortunately for them, the last time these two teams played against each other, Brighton walked away with a 4-0 victory at home. Now away and playing at Old Trafford it is unlikely they will be able to replicate this score and performance, as the stadium will be buzzing and the fans will be electric. Expect Manchester United to come out of the tunnel fired up and ready to thrive off their fans. Caesars Casino & Sportsbook has the match result odds at -155 Manchester United, +290 draw, and +440 Brighton. Additionally, the over/under goals for the game is set at 2.5 with the under being -115 and the over being -105. New users will receive a Risk-Free Bet of up to $1500 on their first wager.

For Brighton, they get centre-forward Deniz Undav back from loan and hope he can continue his play from last season, having been involved in 40 goals. Unfortunately, they just lost their up-and-coming left-back Marc Cucurella to Chelsea as well as midfielder Yves Bissouma to Tottenham. During their preseason campaign, they won three out of the five games, while losing and drawing the other two. Although they did beat Manchester United the last time they met, they will be without Cucurella who scored a goal and caused problems for United in the match. They will likely hope for Moisés Caicedo and Leandro Trossard to repeat their performance in the previous match as they both combined for three goals. Very hard to see Brighton winning after the final whistle is blown in what can be compared to a David vs. Goliath clash.

Manchester United as an iconic club needs Eric tan Hag to be the real deal. Since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013, the club has failed to replicate past dominance and find a manager who can inspire the players. In the past ten years, they haven’t won the league and they only have two second-place finishes, that were at least 12 points behind first place, to be proud of. This offseason, they rid themselves of midfielder Paul Pogba to Juventus and sent left-back Alex Telles to Sevilla on loan. To make themselves more competitive, they signed centre-back Lisandro Martínez in hopes of strengthening their concerning defense. Martínez and Donny van de Beek both played for ten Hag at Ajax, so it is likely they will be important in the team’s tactics. They also brought in veteran Christian Eriksen, who can hopefully fill the creativity void they lost in Pogba. There have been confirmed reports that Cristiano Ronaldo wants to leave the club as they are not participating in the Champions League. As of now, there has been not been a deal confirmed and every rumor has faded away, making it clear that no big market club wants him. This could benefit United as I expect Ronaldo to play with the intention of reminding everyone who he is and what he has left in his gas tank. This will be an important match for both sides as they can benefit from great performances.

Although Manchester United won only three of their six preseason matches, I expect them to be a dominant force in this match. They have everything they need to walk away with three points and a foot in the right direction. Their squad is about two times the value of Brighton and it is time that their notable and world-class players put it all together and bring the club back to their glory days. But due to the recent Manchester United play of ten years, I am not blind to them playing down to the level of Brighton and leaving their fans with an underwhelming result.

For our expert Manchester United vs. Brighton prediction take the over on the 2.5 goals scored in the match.