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Manchester United are trying to get closer to the title race again in the Premier League, and by doing so hold off the teams starting to snap at their heels in the standings. That puts a lot of weight on their match against Brighton & Hove Albion, who are unbeaten in their last five matches and have impressed many who have watched them this season.
Despite being a newly promoted side in the EPL this season, Brighton have been a fun little team that hasn’t been afraid to swing with the big boys. They’ve already earned a number of excellent results and look like they’ve well earned their top-half standing in the Premier League — but they haven’t had many matches against the top teams in the table, and those that they have faced haven’t ended well for them.
Manchester need to continue that trend, because they’re slowly slipping further away from first-place Manchester City, and the rest of the top seven have almost caught up. At 26 points, they’re a full eight behind City, and now United only have a one point cushion on third-place Chelsea, and only a four-point lead on seventh-place Burnley. That’s a lot less breathing room than Jose Mourinho and company would like, and they can’t afford to let that gap close any further.
Manchester United will be without a pair of central defenders for this match, with Eric Bailly and Phil Jones both still out. They got Marcos Rojo back at midweek, but if he can’t play a second game this quickly, they’ll have to rely on Victor Lindeloff and Chris Smalling in the middle, both of whom have had a few issues with form this season.
Match info, plus how to watch on TV and stream
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, 3 p.m. local
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester, England
TV: NBCSN (U.S. - English), Universo (U.S. - Spanish)
Online: NBC Sports Live, NBCSports.com (U.S.)
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Listings for more countries can be found at LiveSoccerTV.