Key events
Teams!
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Earps; Riviere, Le Tissier, Turner, Blundell; Naalsund, Zelem; Parris, Toone, Garcia; Geyse. Subs: Guerrero, Malard, Galton, Ladd, Evans, Williams, Aherne, Tullis-Joyce.
Brighton (4-4-2): Baggaley; Kullberg, Bergsvand, Thorisdottir, Pattinson; Robinson, Olme, Losada, Sarri; Lee, Terland. Subs: Carabali, Pinto, Symonds, Mengwen, Loeck, Sartup, Dent.
Preamble
There’ve been happier games. After a terrific effort last season, finishing runners-up in the WSL and FA Cup, the Manchester United have struggled this, out of the Champions League in the qualifiers and the Conti Cup in peculiar circumstances, while making a poor start to their league campaign. As such, manager Marc Skinner is under pressure.
Brighton, meanwhile, are also enduring a poor season, and on Friday, the board acted. In early afternoon, Melissa Phillips performed her usual pre-match press-conference duties, by early evening she’d been sacked, and by Saturday lunchtime Mikey Harris had been installed in her stead, the club’s fifth manager in 16 months.
All of which means a fascinating afternoon for us, luxuriating in misery and potential misery. United should win – yes they’ve been worse but no they’ve not been dreadful, and no team could wear the loss, in two years, of Lauren James, Ona Batlle and Alessia Russo. But Brighton have a good, young squad and, when the teams met earlier in November, led twice before an injury-time equaliser snaffled United a draw. They’ll fancy themselves to get something here, and United, with one win and three defeats in their last four league games, might just give it to them.
Kick-off: 12pm GMT