Match Previews

United team news: Lewis Dunk set to miss final day

Albion captain unavailable for last match of the season due to knee injury.

By Charlie Hanson • 17 May 2024

By Paul Hazlewood
Dunk picked up a knock during the defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday.

Albion finish their season on Sunday as the welcome Manchester United to the Amex, kick-off 4pm.

Roberto De Zerbi’s team will secure a tenth place finish with a win, while a defeat could see them finish anywhere between tenth and 13th.

United on the other hand need at least a point if they hope to qualify for some form of European competition next season.

Team news

In his pre-match press conference, De Zerbi said, "Lewis Dunk is not available. I don't think it's a big problem, which is good news for him and us, but he won't play on Sunday. I don't know the level of his injury but it is a knee issue."

The Italian added, "We will have to see Tariq Lamptey's situation because after a long time out, he played 70 minutes at Newcastle and a long time against Chelsea, while Kaoru [Mitoma], Jack [Hinshelwood], James Milner and JP [van Hecke] can be available for the start of pre-season."

Player to watch

By Paul Hazlewood
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes.

United captain Bruno Fernandes returned to the United starting XI for their 3-2 win over Newcastle in midweek after missing league games through injury for the first time in his career at Old Trafford. The Portugal international has ten Premier League goals and eight assists so far this campaign.

Our last meeting

02:19

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PL Highlights: Man United 1 Brighton 3

Albion made it back-to-back victories at Old Trafford as they beat Erik ten Hag’s team 3-1 back in September. Danny Welbeck put us in front after 20 minutes, before Pascal Gross and Joao Pedro added a goal each in the second half. Hannibal Mejbri scored a consolation goal with 15 minutes to play, with the victory extending our run over United to four consecutive wins.

How the table looks

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Live League Table Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1
Manchester City
Man City MCI
38 28 7 3 96 34 +62 91
2
Arsenal
Arsenal ARS
38 28 5 5 91 29 +62 89
3
Liverpool
Liverpool LIV
38 24 10 4 86 41 +45 82
4
Aston Villa
Aston Villa AVL
38 20 8 10 76 61 +15 68
5
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs TOT
38 20 6 12 74 61 +13 66
6
Chelsea
Chelsea CHE
38 18 9 11 77 63 +14 63
7
Newcastle United
Newcastle NEW
38 18 6 14 85 62 +23 60
8
Manchester United
Man Utd MUN
38 18 6 14 57 58 -1 60
9
West Ham United
West Ham WHU
38 14 10 14 60 74 -14 52
10
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace CRY
38 13 10 15 57 58 -1 49
11
Brighton and Hove Albion
Albion Albion
38 12 12 14 55 62 -7 48
12
Everton
Everton EVE
38 13 9 16 40 51 -11 48
13
Bournemouth
Bournemouth BOU
38 13 9 16 54 67 -13 48
14
Fulham
Fulham FUL
38 13 8 17 55 61 -6 47
15
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves WOL
38 13 7 18 50 65 -15 46
16
Brentford
Brentford BRE
38 10 9 19 56 65 -9 39
17
Nottingham Forest
Nott'm Forest NFO
38 9 9 20 49 67 -18 36
18
Luton Town
Luton LUT
38 6 8 24 52 85 -33 26
19
Burnley
Burnley BUR
38 5 9 24 41 78 -37 24
20
Sheffield United
Sheffield Utd SHU
38 3 7 28 35 104 -69 16

This table does not include points deductions for Everton and Nottingham Forest.

Match stats

Brighton have won each of their last four Premier League games against Manchester United – the last side to beat the Red Devils in five consecutive league games was Norwich City between 1988 and 1990.

Manchester United have lost four of their six Premier League away games against Brighton (67%), their highest loss rate away against any side in the competition.

Brighton have lost their final game in four of their six Premier League campaigns, with the exceptions being a 2-1 win at Burnley (2019-20) and a 3-1 home win v West Ham (2021-22).

Manchester United have lost their final league game in two of the last five seasons (W3), as many times as they had in the previous 33 campaigns (W23 D8).

Manchester United won 3-2 against Newcastle United last time out, despite facing 21 shots. It was the seventh time this season they’ve won a Premier League game when facing 20+ shots, the joint most on record in a campaign along with Charlton Athletic in 2003-04.

In their first 19 Premier League matches this season, Brighton were the fifth-highest scorers in the Premier League (38 goals) and had a conversion rate of 13.3%. In their last 18 games since the turn of the year, only Everton (15) have scored fewer goals than the Seagulls (17), with their conversion rate of 6.6% the worst of any side in this time.

Brighton’s James Milner has appeared in the final game in 16 different Premier League campaigns – if he plays in this match, he’ll be the first player in the competition’s history to do so in 17 different seasons.

Brighton’s Pascal Groß has scored more Premier League goals against Manchester United than he has vs any other side (7). He’s scored in his last three against them in the competition, with only Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (5), Mohamed Salah (5) and Sergio Agüero (4) netting in more consecutive appearances against the Red Devils.

Since Boxing Day, Man Utd striker Rasmus Højlund has scored nine goals from just 19 shots in the Premier League, a 47% shot conversion rate. That is the best ratio of any player to attempt 5+ shots in that timeframe.

Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes has created 113 chances in the Premier League this season, 14 more than any other player. He also created the most chances last season (119) and is the first player to do so in back-to-back seasons since Eden Hazard in 2013-14 (93) and 2014-15 (100).

Match officials

Referee: Craig Pawson.

Assistants: Marc Perry, Steve Meredith.

Fourth official: Oliver Langford.

VAR: Darren England.

Assistant VAR: Neil Davies.