Brighton display shows Erik ten Hag cannot afford to start Sofyan Amrabat against Manchester City | OneFootball

Manchester United looked ordinary yet again and rode their luck at times but eventually ended up winning their final Premier League game of the season against Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 on Sunday.

The Seagulls dominated right from the get go at the Amex Stadium and should have taken the lead in the first half, as they had 10 shots as compared to the visitors’ two.

Erik ten Hag’s side were lucky to go into half-time level and a brilliant goal-line clearance from Casemiro kept the scoreline intact in the 50th minute.

Sofyan Amrabat was appalling in the defensive midfield role and kept giving the ball away. The hosts targeted the Moroccan and kept winning back possession whenever the ball fell to him.

Amrabat was poor

After a couple of recent starts, many were of the opinion that the club could do well to make the 27-year-old’s loan move permanent.

The display against Roberto de Zerbi’s men proved that bringing him in on deadline day has not worked out as well as the manager had thought.

If Amrabat starts against Pep Guardiola’s men, it could get ugly considering his silly mistake in the last Manchester derby as well.

It was the introduction of Rasmus Hojlund that changed the game with the Red Devils beginning to seize the initiative with the Dane dovetailing beautifully with the skillful Amad Diallo at times.

Casemiro back to his original position, Varane back in please

The Ivorian was on the periphery in the first half but was fantastic to watch at times in the second half. He surely has played himself into contention to start the FA Cup final next week.

And despite the brilliant goalsaving action from the Brazilian, the manager should start his trusted combination of Raphael Varane, who came on as a second-half substitute, and Lisandro Martinez against Manchester City.

Casemiro might not be the same force he was last season but he should definitely start as the deep-lying playmaker ahead of the Fiorentina man.

And with extra rest, the Danish striker is sure to play from the first whistle. Ten Hag’s only difficult selection call will be choosing his wingers with Marcus Rashford now fit.

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