Manchester United opened the new season with a win over Fulham but are looking up at Brighton and Hove Albion sitting on top of the table.
Joshua Zirkzee’s late goal handed United all three points against Fulham, snatching a 1-0 victory on his Manchester United debut.
Zirkzee will have been delighted to get off to a strong start and United sat top of the table for a few hours to start the season.
Liverpool took over on Saturday afternoon but it’s now Brighton and Hove Albion who lead the way after the first round of fixtures.
The Seagulls hammered Everton 3-0 on Saturday afternoon with the Toffees certainly missing recent United target Jarrad Branthwaite.
Gary Neville on Danny Welbeck
Few will expect Brighton to be top come the end of the season but the manner of their performance at Goodison Park caught the eye.
The Seagulls have a new manager in Fabian Hurzeler and the former St Pauli boss had his side playing some superb stuff against Everton.
United head to the South Coast this weekend and will be hoping to inflict first Premier League defeat on Hurzeler.
This weekend’s meeting will see United come up against Brighton striker Danny Welbeck once again.
The former United forward opened his account for the season against Everton, driving at the Toffees defence before placing a left-footed strike into the net.
Welbeck then turned provider, picking out Simon Adingra to make it 3-0 and mark a dream start to the season.
United will have to pay close attention to Welbeck and he has been praised by Gary Neville ahead of Saturday’s clash.
Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, Neville noted that he was ‘delighted’ to see Welbeck make a huge impact against Everton.
Neville added that he is always looking out for Welbeck’s successes, believing that he is a ‘fantastic player’ who has enjoyed a ‘great career’.
“The two wide players are exciting and you see Danny Welbeck, I was delighted for him, because I always am,” said Neville. “I think he’s fantastic player, I really do, I think he’s had a great career,” he added.
- READ MORE: Who is Gary Neville? Step into the world of the Manchester United legend turned top-tier pundit
Welbeck record v Manchester United
Welbeck is likely to lead the line for Brighton against United, just as he did against Everton on Saturday.
The 33-year-old spent his formative years in the United academy and broke into the first-team picture under Sir Alex Ferguson and then David Moyes.
Welbeck hit 29 goals in 142 games for United before leaving for Arsenal in 2014 as Louis van Gaal allowed him to leave.
The former England striker eventually ended up at Watford and now Brighton, shedding an ‘injury-prone’ tag which followed him for a while.
Welbeck has now played 15 times against United and won six, losing nine in the process as he claims playing against the club is no longer ‘weird’.
That means that Welbeck has curiously never drawn against United, so perhaps we should be expecting a victory or a defeat this weekend.
Welbeck has bagged five goals and one assist against United too, including a goal at Old Trafford last season.
The former United hitman would no doubt love to add to that tally and Erik ten Hag must be wary of the striker this weekend.
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