"They remain a work in progress" - Chris Sutton makes prediction for Manchester United vs Brighton

BBC pundit for the Premier League Chris Sutton has given his prediction for this weekend's clash between Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion. Writing in his column for BBC, Sutton predicted a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday.

He wrote (via BBC):

"My son is the assistant manager of my Fantasy team - I am Brian Clough, and he is Peter Taylor - and he told me to get Amad Diallo in this week. Guess what? I over-ruled him, and obviously Diallo went on to score a hat-trick for Manchester United against Southampton."

Diallo scored a late hat-trick to help the Red Devils overturn a 1-0 deficit and win 3-1 against Southampton at home on January 16.

Sutton continued:

"It really was a case of United finding a way to win so late on in that game, because their performance for most of it had not been great, especially in the first half."

He added:

"Being able to do that is important, so fair play to Diallo and manager Ruben Amorim, but it does not mean United have cracked it, or turned a corner. I must say this every week about them, but they remain a work in progress and there are going to be lot more bumps in the road for Amorim."

Speaking about the upcoming game against Brighton, Sutton wrote:

"This might be one of them, because Brighton are much tougher opposition than Saints were. The Seagulls got back to winning ways in the league against Ipswich (Town) on Thursday. I fancy them here more than I do United, but I am going to go with a draw."

"As I mentioned earlier, United have got a habit of getting something out of games, and this time they will find a way of getting a draw."

Brighton beat Ipswich Town 2-0 away in their previous Premier League match.

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Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim predicts rollercoaster rest of season

Manchester United come into this game on the back of a 3-1 win against Southampton. This was Amorim's third win, with the team losing five and drawing the other two games.

The Portuguese manager has now warned United fans of a rollercoaster season ahead.

"I think it's going to be hard until the end of the season," Amorim said (via ESPN). "It's going to be a little bit, that rollercoaster. It depends on the time you have to train. We had seven trainings [sessions] together in 14, 15 games. It's really hard, but we have to continue and try to win it. Sometimes playing good, sometimes playing bad. We will try to win games."

Manchester United are 12th in the Premier League, level on points with West Ham United (who are behind on goal difference).