Michael Carrick will aim to celebrate being confirmed as Manchester United‘s permanent manager with a victory on the final day of the Premier League season that could ruin Brighton and Hove Albion‘s hopes of European football.
United made it official this week that Carrick will remain in post after an excellent interim spell in charge that has seen him guide the Red Devils to a third-place finish, securing Champions League football next season.
Carrick’s men have nothing but pride to play for as an impressive season comes to a close, yet they could spoil the party for their hosts.
Brighton could qualify for the Champions League if they prevail and Bournemouth fail to win at Nottingham Forest, though a sixth-place finish being good enough for the Champions League is dependent on Liverpool leapfrogging Aston Villa into fourth place.
However, depending on results at Anfield, where Brentford are the visitors, and at the Stadium of Light between Sunderland and Chelsea, failure to win could see Brighton drop out of the top eight and miss out on Europe altogether.
The Seagulls have lost two of their last three games, their most recent win over relegated Wolves coming either side of defeats at Newcastle United and Leeds United.
But Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler knows his side are capable of getting the result they desire, having already beaten the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea at home this season.
“We can achieve it if we stick to our approach through the whole season, stick to our principles, stick to good preparation, stick to a good togetherness,” Hurzeler told his pre-match press conference. Then we definitely can beat every team at home. But we know it will be a big challenge against Manchester United.
“Manchester United play an outstanding season, especially since Carrick arrived. They really look like a team. They have individual quality, so we have to play at our highest level to win this game. But we try to focus on our approach. We try to focus on our preparation, then we have a big chance.”
Team news for Brighton v Manchester United
Brighton are set to be without Kaoru Mitoma again because of a hamstring injury that is expected to keep him out of the World Cup.
Adam Webster and Stefanos Tzimas (both knee) are out.
Benjamin Sesko and Matthijs de Ligt are United’s two absentees.