Goals from Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw helped Manchester United kick off their Premier League campaign with a win, as they defeated Leicester City 2-1 at Old Trafford last Friday, but while the result was one Jose Mourinho would've expected from his side, there were still significant areas that his Red Devils side need to improve on quickly.
They head to the south coast on Sunday afternoon to face Brighton & Hove Albion, who started their season with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Watford, but Chris Hughton's men know what it takes to beat United, as in the latter stages of last season the Seagulls beat their north west opponents 1-0 thanks to a Pascal Gross goal.
Brighton will still go into the game as huge underdogs, and having reported yesterday that Mourinho is set to strengthen his starting XI with the likely return of Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard then the Old Trafford boss will hope that welcoming back key personnel can see his side improve on last week's performance.
We have picked out THREE areas in which United can improve on on Sunday afternoon at the Falmer Stadium.
Possession
Amazingly, Manchester United only had 46% of possession in that win over Leicester which is staggering for a side that is often so dominant on home soil. The passing statistics also suggest that they didn't have enough of the ball to cause the Foxes defence considerable problems, as they only made 464 passes to Leicester's 522, with both teams working at an 83% success rate.
However, United fans can take a positive spin on last year's defeat to Brighton as while they lost 1-0 to that solitary Gross goal they amassed 68% of the possession, and made 666 passes to Brighton's 288, so they will look to emulate those statistics, but ultimately make the most of having the lion's share of possession.
Take More Shots
Paul Pogba's third minute penalty immediately put United on the front foot against Leicester, but they still lacked that attacking flare that many a United side has been known for, and in the 90 minutes they only amassed eight shots. Six of the eight were on target, so Kasper Schmeichel was relatively busy, but they have to try and get into a mentality of shooting a lot more, as if you liken their eight shots with Liverpool's 18 shots in their 4-0 win over West Ham United then Mourinho has to get them shooting a lot more.
Romelu Lukaku is set to return to the side on Sunday afternoon, and took 86 shots last season in the Premier League, of which half were on target, so he should be able to up those shooting stats, and with the aforementioned Pogba, Alexis Sanchez, Ander Herrera and Juan Mata all having the ability to score goals then United need to be braver.
Kick On After Scoring First Goal
Throughout Sir Alex Ferguson's reign United had a real will to bury teams in the first half, but since the Old Trafford messiah has departed, the Red Devils have often struggled to kill teams off, and it was a similar story last week, as having netted in the third minute they then took into the final ten minutes to double their lead.
Only one of United's last eight Premier League games last season did they score two goals in the first half, and they have to try and get into the mindset of continuing to attack when in front in matches, and not just sit on a one-goal lead.
Check out a throwback to some more United poor possession stats:
- Possession: 28%
- Shots: 1
- Shots on target: 0
- Passes completed: 219
Obviously it was a friendly, but still, the signs aren't great with their first game being on Friday!
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