Brighton vs. Man United Predictions: Back Ronaldo to strike on the South Coast

As the Premier League run-in continues, Manchester United take the trip down south to The Amex where they will face Brighton & Hove Albion in a 17:30 kick off. 

Both teams registered 3-0 victories last time out and should be full of confidence. A dominant performance for Brighton as they brushed aside Wolverhampton Wanderers with relative ease. Brighton currently sit in 9th place in the Premier League and will be looking to finish the season strong by finishing in the top half, with Newcastle, Leicester and Palace all within three points of The Seagulls. A terrible run through February and March would have left Brighton fans disappointed, seeing six straight defeats and scoring only one goal. Since then they have improved on performances with a 2-1 win over Arsenal, 1-0 win over Tottenham with the most recent 3-0 victory against Wolves last time out. Tariq Lamptey appeared from the bench at the Molineux but is set to be back in the starting XI here on Saturday. Ex Manchester United player Danny Welbeck is set to lead the line yet again following a goal and an assist in his last two, with Graham Potter reluctant to make changes from their most recent victory. 

Achieving top four is mathematically still possible for Manchester United, however the chance of everything going their way is close to zero. Arsenal remain five points ahead of Manchester United, with an extra couple of games still to play, it looks virtually impossible. One of United's best performances came last week against Brentford where they looked in total control against an inform side who have brushed aside Chelsea and West Ham in recent weeks. A return to the team for Juan Mata reminded fans of his capabilities, one of the better performances and deserves to keep his place. Sancho and Maguire could make a return to the squad even though they were previously ruled out for the season. Ronaldo is set to lead the line again and will be looking to notch his nineteenth Premier League goal of the season, currently just four goals behind Mo Salah in three fewer appearances. 

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Lamptey, Veltman, Dunk, Webster, Cucurella; Bissouma, Caicedo; Trossard, Mac Allister, Welbeck

Manchester United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Lindelof, Telles; Fred, McTominay; Elanga, Mata, Fernandes; Ronaldo

With the season coming to an end, Cristiano Ronaldo will still be as eager as ever to get on the scoresheet for his fifth consecutive match. Scoring six times in his last four matches taking his Premier League tally to eighteen goals in just twenty-nine appearances (twenty-six starts), he remains just four goals shy of Mohamed Salah who has netted twenty-two times whilst making an extra three appearances. 

Priced at 5/4, these odds are giving Ronaldo a 44% chance of bagging against The Albion on Saturday which seems very generous. Across the Premier League season he has averaged 3.6 shots per game, with a huge twenty-six shots in his last six matches which is an average of 4.33 per game. From those shots, he managed to find the net nine times, doubling his league tally, he is definitely the man in form. It may be a game that could potentially lack excitement, but Ronaldo thrives off scoring goals and that will be his main priority yet again on Saturday evening.

With the expectation of finding the net again for Cristiano and following one of United's best performances coming last time out, I think this bet boost holds some value at 7/1.

United will be looking to end the season in style with the Portuguese phenomenon leading from the front. He has come under lots of scrutiny of late but has really left it all out on the pitch, often sprinting back to help defend and win the ball back, something that we failed to see earlier in the season. United have only managed to keep one clean sheet in their last ten matches, which came midweek against Brentford. Brighton are in good form themselves, winning against Wolves, Spurs and Arsenal in their last five, if the Red Devils are to take three points, I expect Brighton to get on the scoresheet in front of a home crowd.