Manchester United’s hopes of winning the treble this season came crushing when they met Seville in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the Europa League. The Red Devils were defeated 3-0 by Seville in Spain.
Erik Ten Hag’s side will hope to advance to their second finals this season when they face Brighton on Sunday at Wembley in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
The Red Devils have already lost 4-0 in the Premier League earlier in the season and face a much harder task against Brighton in the FA Cup on Sunday. Brighton looks like a more compact and difficult team under new manager Roberto De Zerbi. Brighton are seventh in the Premier League with three games in hand and could secure a European football spot at the end of the season.
Despite Brighton’s brilliant performance under Roberto De Zerbi, Paul Merson believes Manchester United has what it takes to edge past them to the finals at Wembley next season.
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What is Paul Merson’s prediction for Manchester United Vs Brighton?
The former Arsenal playmaker said on Sportkeeda: “Manchester United’s defense has a few injuries and they’re up against Evan Ferguson and Danny Welbeck.
“I think United will be more worried about the midfield, however, because Brighton pass the ball around very well.
“Ferguson is a good player, but I think they’ll try to play the ball out to Mitoma on the wing instead of playing through the middle. Brighton slaughtered Chelsea last week, but they do have the odd defeat in them.
“Brighton opens up the game and when they have the ball, United can stop them. But when United have the ball, I’m not sure if Brighton can step up.
“United have plenty of experience at this stage – they’ve been at this stage too many times, while Brighton have never been there.
“I wouldn’t be shocked one bit if Man United lose this game. I don’t like going against Brighton, but I’m going to back Manchester United this weekend, 2-1.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag claims his team has an opportunity on Sunday to show personality and character against Brighton following the defeat to Seville in the Europa League on Thursday.
He told BT Sport after the game: “We have to do better, that’s the demand.
“We were not composed, not calm. We didn’t beat the press, when you do there are so many spaces behind, and it was obvious at the start how to do it.
“We lost the battles, they had more passion, more desire, and more willingness, that’s difficult to win games.
“We can’t run away from it. On Sunday we have another opportunity and have to step up and show more character and personality.”
