Manchester United will be hoping to stretch their unbeaten run in the Premier League to six matches when they travel to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday night.
United, who defeated the Seagulls on penalties at the semi-final stage of the FA Cup less than a fortnight ago, will be looking to build on Sunday's 1-0 win over Aston Villa and take another giant stride towards securing a top-four finish. A win on the south coast would move them above third-placed Newcastle United and onto 66 points.
The Reds have been almost faultless in the league since their 2-0 defeat to Newcastle at the start of last month, winning four of their last five matches. They have also accompanied each of those victories with a clean sheet.
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The triumph over Villa marked a 15th clean sheet in the league this season for the Reds, meaning they will be keen to add to that tally against Brighton, who will be targeting a famous league double following their opening-day win at Old Trafford back in August.
Goalkeeper David de Gea has contributed to each of those 15 clean sheets and he will be going in search of a 16th against Roberto De Zerbi's side. He has started every Premier League game this season and that trend is set to continue at the Amex.
Ahead of the former Atletico Madrid shot-stopper, manager Erik ten Hag has a crucial decision to make at right-back, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka knocking on the door for a recall. He was, much to almost everyone's surprise, named on the bench against Villa and will be determined to wrestle his place back, particularly after performing so well against Brighton at Wembley last month.
The way in which Wan-Bissaka dealt with the threat of Kaoru Mitoma could mean that he wins his place back at the expense of Tyrell Malacia. That means Diogo Dalot could revert to playing at left-back again after temporarily switching back to the right-back spot on Sunday.
Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw are expected to continue their prosperous partnership in the heart of the defence.
In midfield, Ten Hag could make one change to the side that defeated Villa, redeploying Bruno Fernandes in his natural attacking-midfield berth. The Portuguese international, who scored the winner against Unai Emery's side, started out wide at the weekend, paving the way for Marcel Sabitzer to start as the most advanced member of the midfield three.
Should Fernandes move back across into a more familiar position, he is likely to team up with Christian Eriksen and Casemiro in the engine room. As a trio, they have formed United's strongest midfield this season.
The prospect of Fernandes moving back into the No.10 berth means that the door should swing back open for Antony to reclaim his place. Like Wan-Bissaka, the winger was a surprise absentee against Villa and he will be keen to reclaim his place.
The Brazilian has been one of United's best players in recent weeks and his pace on the counter-attack could be useful. He could join Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho in forming the front three.
Predicted United line-up vs Brighton: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Shaw, Dalot; Casemiro, Eriksen, Fernandes; Antony, Rashford, Sancho.
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