Manchester United face back-to-back trips to face Brighton away from home in the coming days.
The Seagulls saw off Preston last night to set up an EFL Cup meeting with United just days after our Premier League clash on Saturday.
Our 3-0 win at Luton lifted the gloom briefly – or rather prevented the mood of the club dropping further.
But there’s still plenty for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to ponder ahead of a double duel on the south coast.
Does Solskjaer rotate again?
In truth, the two matches could potentially take place between two completely different lineups on both sides.
Solskjaer made ten changes at Luton and Brighton swapped their full eleven against Preston.
That means is likely to be little relationship between the two games.
Solskjaer may as well assess Brighton’s league side for Saturday, then their cup side for the midweek encounter.
If Solskjaer gives his fringe players a runout again, the two games could be as different as two straight matches between the same clubs can be.
Has anyone forced their way in?
Eric Bailly staked his claim to replace Victor Lindelof at Luton.
Of course, it was ‘only’ Luton but the Ivorian looked far more assured than Lindelof did against Crystal Palace.
Bailly should start the league clash with Brighton, perhaps leaving Lindelof to try and recover his form in the cup competition.
Perhaps Nemanja Matic or Fred have forced themselves ahead of Scott McTominay or Paul Pogba, who were both underwhelming against Palace.
Can United get space to counter?
United ripped Brighton apart on the break for a stunning goal which sealed a 3-0 win on our last visit to the Amex Stadium in July.
Graeme Potter’s side like to play on the front foot and go at teams, which should leave us space to counter into once again.
To do that though, United will need to deal with the intensity of a side further along in their fitness preparations – which is what we failed to do against Palace.
Prior to last season, United had lost on their previous two visits to Brighton, and Solskjaer must ensure that doesn’t turn into four losses from five by this time next week.
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