BRIGHTON 0-0 MANCHESTER UNITED

Brighton XI: Ryan, Lamptey, Dunk, Duffy, Burn, Montoya, Bissouma, Stephens, Propper, Mac Allister, Connolly

Manchester United XI: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Matic, Pogba, Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford, Martial

• Ole Gunnar Solskjaer makes eight changes from the FA Cup win over Norwich

• However, the Manchester United boss reverts to the same side who beat Sheffield United

• Shane Duffy, Davy Propper and Martin Montoya replace Adam Webster, Aaron Mooy and Neal Maupay

BRIGHTON 0-0 MANCHESTER UNITED

15: Woodwork! You don’t get much closer than that. Paul Pogba squares the ball for midfield partner Bruno Fernandes, who opens his body and thunders a 20-yarder against the base of the post. Pogba’s follow up then deflects behind for a corner.

13: “Never a f*****g handball. It hit my shoulder,” screams Aaron Connolly as Alexis Mac Allister looks to thread him through. It did hit his arm…

10: Ten minutes in and it’s all relatively quiet. Incidentally, Gary Neville thinks the £50million Jadon Sancho story is nonsense and that Manchester United will not be able to bully Borussia Dortmund in the upcoming transfer window.

8: Nice from Aaron Connolly. He nips between Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof and the latter brings him down to prevent any further damage. He escapes the booking and Brighton’s Dale Stephens thumps it into orbit.

Quick mention for Tariq Lamptey. He’s playing as a right winger today and looks to have the legs on Luke Shaw. Could be an interesting battle developing down that channel.

5: I didn’t expect Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes to be playing so high up the pitch. He’s virtually a second striker in these opening stages. Brighton staying compact, deep and aren’t afraid of a long hoof forward.

4: The artificial fans making their artificial noise are seemingly unaffected by the weather conditions. I’ll give them an artificial pat on the back.

3: I’ve upgraded the weather conditions from miserable to bloody awful. It’s lashing it down at the Amex Stadium.

To matters ON the pitch, Manchester United have started in a confident fashion. They’ve knocked it quickly from right to left swiftly looking to test this Brighton side early.

BRIGHTON 0-0 MANCHESTER UNITED

1: Ready? Good because we’ve just started. It’s a pretty miserable evening on the south coast but a blustery 15 degrees won’t prevent us from having a drinks break at 22 minutes. I could rant about that for hours but I’ll leave it there for now. And DON’T get me started on the five substitutes…

Jadon Sancho latest

This is going to rumble on all summer… Well I suppose the mind games have continued and this one is a real doozy.

Sky Sports are claiming that Manchester United will not pay more than £50million for Jadon Sancho.

Borussia Dortmund are demanding in excess of £100m for his signature.

You seeing the problem here?

Obviously my opinion is irrelevant, but let’s take a quick look at the facts.

He’s only 20, he’s a regular England international, he’s scored 34 goals and provided 43 assists in 99 appearances for the German club AND he’s behind only Robert Lewandowski and Timo Werner in the Bundesliga scoring charts this season.

Am I missing something here?

On the box

TV coverage for tonight’s game is underway. Who’s in the studio? It’s Manchester United legend Patrice Evra and… Jamie Redknapp.

The first five minutes have been dedicated to Gary Neville going into hiding after Liverpool’s title win. I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would…

“Just watching the advert I realised how many of you lot (Liverpool fans/ex-players) work in this company,” said Neville. No response…

Who?

I know this has nothing to do with tonight’s match but it’s well worth a mention.

Carlo Ancelotti was asked why the club had decided to release Luke Garbutt after 11 years with the club.

And his response will forever be etched in Everton legend… “Who?”

In fairness to the Italian boss, Garbutt hadn’t played for the Toffees in over six years and never worked alongside Ancelotti.

Team news – Brighton

Graham Potter has made changes. He’s made three of them.

The Seagulls boss is without Adam Webster, who failed a late fitness test. So that injury sees the return of the iconic Shane Duffy/Lewis Dunk partnership.

Aaron Mooy and Neal Maupay drop out with Martin Montoya and Davy Propper starting.

Tariq Lamptey keeps his place having shaken off a knock. Think Chelsea may regret losing the 19-year-old.

Team news – Manchester United

Nice and simple. Manchester United name an unchanged side from the team who beat Sheffield United at an empty Old Trafford.

Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes continue their flourishing relationship in the middle of the park with Nemanja Matic providing the steel in behind.

No Jesse Lingard or Diogo Dalot in the squad again… but I suppose that’s not really a surprise after their weekend performances.

Starting XI

Apparently the Leroy Sane deal is actually £54.8million – but it’s still a bargain in my book.

Anyway, the team sheets have arrived and it’s pretty-much as expected. No changes for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

Brighton XI: Ryan, Lamptey, Dunk, Duffy, Burn, Montoya, Bissouma, Stephens, Propper, Mac Allister, Connolly.

Subs: Button, Schelotto, Bernardo, Gross, Mooy, March, Trossard, Murray, Maupay.

Manchester United XI: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Matic, Pogba, Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford, Martial.

Subs: Romero, Bailly, Williams, Fred, Pereira, McTominay, Mata, James, Ighalo.

Leroy’s gone…

How’s this happened? I know it’s been on the cards for a while but I can’t get my head around it.

Leroy Sane will join Bayern Munich this summer. The Bundesliga giants are paying £41million for the 24-year-old, whose contract at the Etihad would have expired next June.

It’s a deal, it’s a steal, it’s sale of the… I’m not allowed to finish the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels quote here I’m afraid.

Oh and in far less interesting news, Sandro Ramirez will remain with La Liga side Real Valladolid after Everton agreed to extend his loan.

They can’t all be winners…

Evening…

Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Brighton vs Manchester United from the Amex Stadium.

I hope you’re all hunky-dory on this miserable June day. Lockdown restrictions ease, pubs nearly open and the weather responds in stunning fashion…

Anyway, enough moaning.

The title may have been decided last Thursday (or back in December) but the weeks ahead offer plenty more excitement.

Champions League places are top for grabs and relegation six-pointers are in full swing. Tonight, we have a little bit of both on the south coast.

United, who are undefeated in 14 games in all competitions, are looking to clinch Champions League qualification while the Seagulls want to climb further away from the drop.

Plenty at stake, so let’s get going.