Man Utd 2-1 Brighton
Premier League 2018/19
Venue: Old Trafford
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's record-breaking start to life in the Manchester United dugout continued as Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford struck against Brighton to secure a seventh straight win in all competitions.
On a day when Old Trafford stood to remember Sir Matt Busby ahead of the 25th anniversary of his death on Sunday, the caretaker manager broke another of the Scot's long-standing United records.
In the process of claiming a seventh successive victory in the hotseat, Solskjaer became the first Red Devils boss to win their first six league games, with Pogba's penalty and a Rashford stunner helping see off Chris Hughton's Brighton 2-1.
This victorious streak sees United's 1999 treble hero go level with Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola in the Premier League record books, and further justifies the club's decision to parachute him in to replace Jose Mourinho a month ago.
Relive the action with James Robson at Old Trafford!
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Man Utd vs Brighton team news and line-ups
Man Utd: de Gea, Young, Jones, Lindelof, Dalot, Ander Herrera, Matic, Lingard, Pogba, Martial, Rashford
Subs: Bailly, Sanchez, Mata, Lukaku, Andreas Pereira, Darmian, Romero
Brighton: Button, Montoya, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, March, Gross, Stephens, Propper, Locadia, Murray
Subs: Saltor, Kayal, Andone, Knockaert, Balogun, Steele, Gyokeres
Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire)
Score prediction: Man Utd 2-0 Brighton
Solskjaer has been credited with dramatically improving United's attack in a few short weeks, but the Norwegian has also been working to shore up a leaky defence - and he has been rewarded with three clean sheets in a row.
Brighton have only scored 24 goals this season, but have conceded just 30 - that's two fewer than United, and the last time the Seagulls conceded three or more was at the start of November against Everton.
While Solskjaer will want to attack from the off, he would probably swap a goal or two for a clean sheet ahead of some huge games in February.
TV channel, live stream online coverage and highlights
The match will not be televised live in the UK, but you can follow all the action on Standard Sport's LIVE blog with James Robson at Old Trafford.
Highlights will be shown on BBC's Match of the Day on Saturday night.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
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The two sides have met three times in the Premier League, with Brighton - somewhat surprisingly - having the better record.
United won their first Premier League meeting 1-0 at Old Trafford in November 2017, but the Seagulls won the return fixture 1-0 at the Amex last May before shocking Mourinho earlier this season with a 3-2 home win in August.
3 mins: Not a great effort from Pogba, who crashes the ball against the wall. Still, a bright start from the hosts.
2 mins: It's been all United on the ball so far, and Herrera wins a free-kick just outside the Brighton penalty area.
Mata would have fancied this usually, but he's on the bench...
KICK-OFF!
We are underway at Old Trafford.
Sir Matt Busby tribute
The players and fans hold a minute's applause to pay tribute to United's legendary manager Sir Matt Busby, with today the 25th anniversary of his death.
Late team news
Luke Shaw has pulled out during the warm-ups after feeling ill, so that means Diogo Dalot starts for United.
James Robson at Old Trafford
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks like he’s decided his strongest Manchester United XI after naming an unchanged side against Brighton.
Despite Romelu Lukaku’s outstanding performances in training and Alexis Sanchez returning to fitness, United’s interim manager has stuck with the same front three that started against Tottenham last week.
Marcus Rashford leads the attack, with Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard out wide.
A midfield of Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic is also clearly Solksjaer’s preferred option in the middle.
Perhaps only Chris Smalling could force his way in when fully fit - but Phil Jones does enable Victor Lindelof to play in his preferred role on the right of defence.
Team news
Man Utd: de Gea, Young, Jones, Lindelof, Shaw, Ander Herrera, Matic, Lingard, Pogba, Martial, Rashford
Subs: Bailly, Sanchez, Mata, Lukaku, Andreas Pereira, Dalot, Romero
Brighton: Button, Montoya, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, March, Gross, Stephens, Propper, Locadia, Murray
Subs: Saltor, Kayal, Andone, Knockaert, Balogun, Steele, Gyokeres
Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire)
James Robson at Old Trafford
Among the areas that Solskjaer has impacted since taking over from Mourinho is the workrate of United’s players.
Mourinho claimed they couldn’t keep up with Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson in his last game in charge - but the energy levels of United’s players under this new regime have markedly raised.
Solskjaer said: “The stats say the workload has been a bit higher in the past five games in terms of sprints and high-intensity runs and that’s going to take its toll towards the end of games, especially at Wembley, because that is a special pitch. Tottenham are a good team so that was natural towards the end and we’d been to Dubai. “Maybe the time difference had been a cause. In the last 10-15 minutes, we didn’t get the intensity and put pressure on Eriksen, because if you give him time, then he’ll always cause you problems but then again I think this will gradually make us a fitter tam when you get to the Champions League and the Liverpool game, the games where you can’t rely on De Gea.”
Here's how we think Man Utd will line up at Old Trafford...
De Gea; Young, Jones, Lindelof, Shaw; Herrera, Pogba; Rashford, Mata, Sanchez; Lukaku
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