United Meetings: The Stats
Brighton & Hove Albion shared the pitch with Manchester United three times last season, across the Premier League and Emirates FA Cup, and Chris Hughton’s side welcome the Red Devils to the Amex Stadium once again on Sunday. The Manchester club claimed two victories in the matches at Old Trafford, however the Seagulls came out on top towards the end of the season, when Pascal Gross headed the winning goal in a 1-0 victory at the Amex. Albion produced positive displays against Jose Mourinho’s team at Old Trafford, but the hosts secured a narrow 1-0 win in the Premier League, before seeing off Hughton’s side 2-0 in the FA Cup. Here are some stats, collected from all three meetings, to consider ahead of Sunday’s meeting on the south coast: United dominated the possession stats across all three games, 62.3% on average - however their highest possession-percentage came in their 1-0 defeat to Albion, when the Seagulls secured their Premier League survival. This weekend’s visitors also enjoyed more passes over the course of last season’s meetings - making 1,937 passes compared to Albion’s 1,155 - but their lowest total also came from the match at the Amex. Albion came out on top in a few areas - Hughton’s team recorded more tackles [56-32] and clearances [82-55] against United, while also narrowly winning more duels [51%] against Mourinho’s men. The Red Devils had three more shots across the hat-trick of games, recording 39 to Albion’s 36, but the Seagulls produced more efforts on target [12-9], including Gross’s all-important winner. Hughton’s side also played more long passes than their opponents in each of their three meetings, with a total of 212 compared to United’s 173 from the games at Old Trafford and the Amex.