Brighton vs Man Utd Prediction: Welbeck can punish former side

Adam Roberts

May 3

The midweek Premier League fixtures conclude on Thursday, when Brighton and Hove Albion take on Manchester United at the AMEX. We've provided a full preview of the game, as well as our two best bets for the occasion.

Brighton vs Man Utd Tips

Brighton to win and both teams to score - 23/10
Danny Welbeck to score first - 9/2

Brighton (21/20) need to keep picking up points in their quest for European football and they did themselves no harm, with a superb 6-0 win against Wolves at the weekend.

Another win here, against Manchester United (23/10), would go a long way to securing a Europa League spot and leapfrogging Aston Villa and Spurs into fifth spot.

The Red Devils scraped past Villa 1-0 on Sunday and look nailed on for the top four and Champions League football.

Looking ahead at their remaining fixtures, this could well be United's hardest assignment in the league.

Team news:

Joel Veltman came off injured against Wolves and joins Adam Lallana, Jeremy Sarmiento, Tariq Lamptey and Jakub Moder on the unavailable list.

Manchester United are still without a lengthy list of first team players through injury with first choice centre backs Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez the main issues. Harry Maguire should be fit to play but ten Hag may opt to stick with the same back four that kept a clean sheet against Villa.

Latest Brighton vs Man Utd Betfred Odds

Brighton to win and both teams to score - 23/10

The Seagulls were sensational on Saturday and braces from Denis Undav, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck (more on him later), were enough to blow a poor Wolves side out of the water.

United were obdurate and somehow held on against Villa but they still look hugely vulnerable at the back without Martinez and Varane.

The pace and trickery of Karou Mitoma and Alexis Mac Allister should cause the likes of Shaw and Lindelhof palpitations at the back and I expect Albion to gain some form of revenge for the FA Cup semi final loss.

Of course, Man United possess plenty of firepower themselves, so they should at least get on the scoresheet.

Danny Welbeck to score first - 9/2

The ex-Manchester United man picked up his fifth and sixth goals of the season on Saturday and when fit, he continues to be a threat up front.

That makes it four goals in his last four starts for the seagulls and with Mitoma and Mac Allister providing the assists, he should get a few good chances to add to that here.

Betfred are running their famed Double Delight/ Hat-trick Heaven Promotion on this match, meaning should the Englishman score first and then go on to score a second, you will be paid at double the odds (9/1). Should he score a 3rd, you would be paid at triple the odds (27/2).