Manchester United vs Brighton LIVE! Premier League match stream, latest team news, lineups, TV, prediction

Manchester United vs Brighton LIVE!

A second south coast club visits Old Trafford inside a week as Ruben Amorim looks to record back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time as manager after scrapping past Southampton in midweek. Despite the win, it raises fresh doubts over the squad, which results and performances against Liverpool and Arsenal had looked to eradicate.

United looked set for another humbling home loss, this time to rock bottom Southampton, as they struggled to lay a finger on a team with just one win to their name all season. That was until Amad Diallo popped up with a 12-minute hat-trick, completed in injury-time, to secure a comeback win just days after signing a new long-term contract.

Brighton will prove a far tougher test, though, and head to Old Trafford unbeaten in five and have beaten the likes of Tottenham and Manchester City this season, while taking points off Arsenal. There will be tributes to club legend Denis Law, who passed away on Friday, ahead of the game. Follow the game LIVE below with our dedicated match blog.

Manchester United vs Brighton latest updates

• Kick-off time: 2pm, Old Trafford

• Why is the game not on UK TV?

• Man Utd XI: Zirkzee and Yoro start

• Brighton XI: Welbeck gets the nod

• Score prediction

Kick-off

14:04 , Alex Young

1min: Here we go!

14:02 , Alex Young

Amazing tribute. Now it’s time for some football.

14:02 , Alex Young

Old Trafford stadium announcer Alan Keegan reads out a poem in tribute to Law.

“He’s still The King of the Stretford End.”

13:59 , Alex Young

That was lovely, a very slow match out for the teams behind a man playing bagpipes. Applause from all corners.

13:57 , Alex Young

Here they come, led out by a tribute to Denis Law with bagpipes.

13:55 , Alex Young

Right then, the teams are in the tunnel.

13:51 , Alex Young

The teams are back in their dressing rooms. Not long now.

Amorim on team news and Southampton win

13:45 , Alex Young

"We have to rotate because of this schedule. Don't forget that we played for an hour a man down against Arsenal, and then I felt we needed changes from the last game.

"The best thing is to win, the feeling is so good and we needed it a lot. We have to continue to improving and the biggest thing is to control possession [which includes] creating chances."

13:43 , Alex Young

Final prep for both squads.

How will this guy get on today?

Tributes to Denis Law

13:33 , Alex Young

Sir Alex Ferguson: "He was the best Scottish player of all-time. Denis was a fantastic player. He was an incredible human being."

Brian Kidd: “He scored any type of goal. You name it, Denis scored them type of goals. His leap for such a small, slight person was unbelievable.

“He was superb. The best thing was that he was such a wonderful person.”

13:29 , Alex Young

Half an hour until kick-off.

Welbeck ready to haunt Man Utd

13:19 , Alex Young

Welbeck is back in the Brighton XI and leads the line today, with Pedro, Minteh and Mitoma in support.

That is a fast attack and all gunning to help the experienced Welbeck against his former club.

Welbeck has five goals in 14 games against United, including two in the last two seasons.

13:04 , Alex Young

Luke Littler is at Old Trafford today. A huge United fan, Littler is just back from Bahrain where he was competing in the Bahrain Masters.

Hojlund dropped, Yoro starts

12:56 , Alex Young

So, as expected, Hojlund’s miserable form has caught up with him and he’s been dropped in favour of Zirkzee.

Yoro had a nightmare time against Sulemane last time out but Amorim gives him a show of faith to start him again, with Maguire coming in for Martinez.

Garnacho, amid ongoing transfer speculation, is on the bench.

Team news in full

12:50 , Alex Young

Manchester United XI: Onana; De Ligt. Maguire, Yoro; Mazraoui, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dalot; Amad, Fernandes, Zirkzee

Subs: Bayindir, Martinez, Malacia, Casemiro, Collyer, Eriksen, Antony, Garnacho, Hojlund

Brighton XI: Verbruggen, Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan, Baleba, Ayari, Minteh, Pedro, Mitoma, Welbeck

Subs: Steele, Lamptey, Webster, McConville, March, Gomez, Enciso, Adingra, Rutter

Brighton XI

12:46 , Alex Young

...and the visitors!

Man Utd XI

12:45 , Alex Young

Here’s how the hosts look...

12:41 , Alex Young

Brighton did the double over Manchester United last season. A third win on the spin today?

12:33 , Alex Young

It has been confirmed that Denis Law’s family are at Old Trafford today.

12:30 , Alex Young

Team news to come in 15 minutes. Does Zirkzee start, does Ugarte get dropped, where will Amad play?

Amorim: Man Utd must change from being a 'team of transition'

12:22 , Alex Young

Ruben Amorim believes Manchester United must move away from being a team that thrives on transitions.

United's first-half performance against Southampton threatened to undo what had been a solid week for them after earning a 2-2 draw against Liverpool in the league and sealing a penalty shootout victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup.

When asked if United are built to be reactive rather than taking the initiative, Amorim replied: "I think this is something that you can see from the past and we were, in the past, a team of transition. And we still are.

"You can feel it - to create chances in the final third, we struggle. We struggle a lot but, for that, I think it's the most difficult.

"I say that, before the game, it's the most difficult moment to train against low blocks, trying to create situations.

"I think it is a team that feels more joy waiting for the play and then, in transition, creating problems. So it's something that we have to change. To change, we need training. So to have time to change, we also need to win games and we have tried to do that."

Match odds

12:15 , Alex Young

The bookies are backing Manchester United to beat Brighton today, despite the teams’ opposing form.

• Manchester United: 6/5

• Draw: 12/5

• Brighton: 11/5

(Odds via Betway.)

12:06 , Alex Young

Hundreds have already paid their tributes to Denis Law, the club legend who passed away on Friday at the age of 84.

The striker won two league titles with United and was a member of their European Cup-winning side under Sir Matt Busby in 1968 when they became the first English club to lift the trophy.

Known as 'The King', Law was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia in 2021, and his family announced his death on Friday evening.

United will pay tribute to Law ahead of kick-off, and hundreds of flowers and notes have already been laid outside the ground.

Score prediction

11:57 , Alex Young

United were incredibly poor for much of the match against Southampton and they will surely be punished if there is a repeat of that here.

Amorim’s side have shown they can sit deep and grind out results away from home against big teams, but they have not yet proved capable of taking the initiative and controlling matches.

Brighton will not come just to defend and their energy could cause a vulnerable United side plenty of problems.

Brighton to win, 2-1.

Early Brighton team news

11:50 , Alex Young

As for Brighton, Danny Welbeck has come off the bench in the last two matches and will be hoping for greater involvement here against his former club.

Lewis Dunk should come back into the starting lineup. New signing Diego Gomez might be involved but Igor Julio is out for the season.

Early Man Utd team news

11:42 , Alex Young

Joshua Zirkzee is pushing to start today.

The Dutchman has had an impact off the bench against Arsenal and Southampton in recent matches and will hope to get the nod over Rasmus Hojlund, who has not scored in over a month.

Diogo Dalot is available again after suspension and should come straight back into the side, allowing Amad Diallo to start in the more advanced role from which he scored a late hat-trick against the Saints.

Leny Yoro started in that match but could drop to the bench for Brighton’s visit to Old Trafford if Harry Maguire returns to the starting lineup.

Christian Eriksen and Toby Collyer are options to start in midfield if Ugarte is rested.

Why isn’t Manchester United vs Brighton on TV?

11:35 , Alex Young

Despite the game is being played at 2pm GMT this afternoon, it was initially scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 18, 2025 with a 3pm GMT kick-off time.

So, as per the '3pm blackout rule' imposed across English football, this fixture can not be televised on national television unless selected for live coverage.

However, Sky Sports are instead showing Everton vs Tottenham followed by Ipswich vs Manchester City.

Match of the Day 2, however, will show highlights when it airs at 10.30pm GMT on BBC One tonight.

Welcome

11:28 , Alex Young

Good morning and welcome to the London Standard’s LIVE coverage of the Premier League clash between Manchester United and Brighton.

It’s another tough test for Ruben Amorim’s side, who made hard work of Southampton last time out and will have to be at their best again today - and hope Amad Diallo pops up again.

It will also be a sombre day with tributes planned for club legend Denis Law, who passed away on Friday.

Kick-off is at 2pm. Stick with us.