Erik ten Hag and his Manchester United players boarded a private flight to Gatwick on Thursday morning as they prepare to take on Brighton in the Premier League.
United currently sit fourth, two points adrift of Newcastle in third and four points ahead of Liverpool in fifth. United have a game in hand on Newcastle and two in hand on Liverpool.
Victory for United at the Amex Stadium will effectively end their hosts' slim chances of securing Champions League qualification. Brighton are currently eighth in the league table, 11 points off the top four, but have played fewer fixtures than every team above them, and have three games in hand on Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa, who sit fifth, sixth and seventh in the standings respectively.
Read more: Ten Hag responds to Casemiro and Fernandes argument
United remain without several first-team players for the trip to the South Coast, with Ten Hag confirming in his pre-match press conference that the game will come too soon for Raphael Varane, Scott McTominay and Alejandro Garnacho.
"Prognosis: Rapha [Varane] is closer than Scott McTominay in this moment but still for the coming two games they are not available," Ten Hag said. "We have one training session but I think it's too soon (for Garnacho) to be available, but I think he's short, he needs some training and then shortly he'll be available."
United have not won an away game against Brighton with a crowd present since the Seagulls' promotion in 2017 and Ten Hag expects they will want "revenge" after their narrow FA Cup semi-final loss in April.
"It's a normal reaction," he added. "I think everyone involved in top sport, if you get beaten you want to have revenge and that is normal they have a huge motivation to beat us but we have to match that and do more, show more hunger than them to win this game and willingness is the word for tomorrow."
Confirmed travelling squad members
- De Gea, Butland, Bishop; Wan-Bissaka, Dalot, Maguire, Lindelof, Shaw, Malacia, Williams; Casemiro, Fred, Eriksen, Sabitzer, Fernandes; Antony, Sancho, Rashford, Martial, Weghorst
Unavailable: Heaton, Varane, Martinez, McTominay, Van de Beek, Garnacho
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