Brighton vs Manchester United: Betting tips and analysis

Two sides who kicked their new Premier League campaigns off with victories do battle at the Amex as Brighton host Manchester United.

New Seagulls boss Fabian Hurzeler oversaw a soaring 3-0 opening-day success at Everton, while Erik ten Hag’s inconsistent Red Devils needed a late Joshua Zirkzee strike to see off Fulham 1-0 at Old Trafford.

Odds Now’s Matt Hill takes a look at how things might pan out in Saturday’s early kick-off.

Tale of the tape

Brighton

Did you know Brighton’s new manager is quite young? It seems to have been overlooked in the media thus far, so I just thought I’d mention it.

However, the fact Hurzeler was still in nappies when his holding midfielder James Milner was already buying snide cans of lager from the off-licence seems to matter little judging by his side’s Goodison Park stroll.

Having 62% of possession against Everton is nothing to write home about but when you combine that with a ruthless streak in front of goal, it becomes a very exciting prospect.

One of last weekend’s scorers, Karou Mitoma, looked back near his menacing best after injury troubles, which is great news for Premier League neutrals.

Manchester United

Ten Hag needed a winning start more than most of his Premier League peers and he got it, even if the decisive moment took 87 minutes to arrive.

On the one hand, Bruno Fernandes’ uncharacteristic pair of misses in the opening period could and should have made things a lot more comfortable for the Red Devils.

Yet there were a few worrying cracks on display too, particularly in the second half where Fulham crept back into the contest and fashioned some reasonable chances of their own.

Purely on the underlying numbers, this was a good start for United but due to the long-standing question marks over their consistency, it was hard to get too carried away with what they produced.

Brighton vs Manchester United: Betting tips and predictions

I’d have been tempted to get with Brighton on the back of the two performances but sadly, the market agrees and has made them plenty short enough for victory at 6/4.

Ultimately, it’s all about price and you could probably now make a better case for United being value at 7/4 — though my advice would be to steer clear of the win market all together.

What we can reasonably assume is that Brighton will have the bulk of the ball and United will look to play primarily on the break, which arguably brings the best out of Ten Hag’s side.

One man who never fails to be in the thick of things is Portuguese maestro Fernandes. He does love a whinge, but then again, he’s had plenty to whinge about at Old Trafford in recent years.

The midfielder’s influence has grown and grown since his January 2020 arrival and so has his tendency to fire shots off — particularly in this calendar year.

In 2024, Fernandes has completed 90 minutes on 26 occasions and across that sample, he has taken 84 shots. That’s an average of over three efforts per game.

Given he had six strikes against Fulham, there’s no sign of that changing this term and I imagine he’ll have the bit between his teeth even more this weekend having fluffed his lines on opening night.

His Over 2.5 and Over 3.5 shots lines look a great way to play this intriguing contest.

Odds Now’s best bets for Brighton vs Manchester United

Bruno Fernandes Over 2.5 shots - EVS (Paddy Power)

Bruno Fernands Over 3.5 shots - 11/4 (Paddy Power)

(Prices correct as of 5pm on 23/08/24)