Combating Guardiola's praise It was around 10 days ago when Pep Guardiola labelled Brighton as the best team in the world for building-up play from the back, using their goalkeeper and central defenders to draw pressure on and then spring into life when the opposition were out of shape.
Stopping that possession-based approach of Roberto De Zerbi has been beyond plenty of teams this season, so it was interesting to see how United would go about it.
They avoided committing too many to the press for most of the game, aware that is what Brighton want. They also defended in a 3-2 shape to which Luke Shaw was key. READ MORE: United player ratings vs Brighton This was Shaw's seventh start at centre-back this season and as comfortable as he's looked in that position, he's never quite had a test like this before.
What central defenders want is a static centre-forward to mark, someone who can give them their bearings and keep them in position all game.