Manchester United took on Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex stadium on Saturday lunchtime and named an unchanged side from their first game against Fulham on opening weekend.
Andre Onana kept his place in goal while Noussair Mazraui started at right back, aiming to build on an impressive debut last week. Diogo Dalot started alongside Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire retained his starting berth ahead of Matthijs de Ligt.
Casemiro, Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount made up the midfield trio.
Despite a relatively controlled start where United demonstrated good defensive control, there was a familiarity to last year where they would often concede under the slightest bit of pressure.
Whilst there was clearly a better tactical solidity, lack of concentration mixed with poor decision making allowed Brighton to jump into an undeserved lead.
The Red Devils switched off at exactly the wrong moment as Maguire inexplicably decided to leave a dangerous ball from the right which was eventually turned back for a grateful Danny Welbeck to slot in.
Objectively Maguire put in a very solid performance against Fulham but all-too familiar errors creeped into his game and he will be disappointed not to have dealt with the situation more confidently on reflection.
Perhaps it will have cost him his place against Liverpool where fans may expect new signing De Ligt to begin his partnership with Martinez.
The whole defensive line were to blame for the last gasp Brighton winner where they all switched to the right and left Joao Pedro in acres of space to bury the winner. A scarcely believable example of exactly what United need to fix if they are to become the team their fans want them to be.
Leave a Reply