Man Utd Continue Surprisingly Impressive Home Form With Youngest Starting XI in the Premier League

11 November 2019 11:00

Manchester United made it five wins from six as they beat Brighton 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford.

​Two quick fire goals in the first half from Andreas Pereira and a Davy Propper own goal put the Red Devils in control, before Marcus Rashford sealed the victory after a Lewis Dunk consolation goal. 

It was a record breaking day for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side, as they fielded the youngest starting lineup of any team in a Premier League game this season, with the likes of Brandon Williams and Scott McTominay starring in a team with an average age of just 23 years and 350 days.

As confirmed by Opta that was their youngest lineup since Jose Mourinho fielded a side with an average age of just 22 years and 284 days in a 2-0 victory over ​Crystal Palace on the final day on the 2016/17 season.


The result also underlined just how good ​Manchester United's results have been in recent times. 

FBL-ENG-PR-MAN UTD-BRIGHTON

There has been a lot of talk of 'crisis' at the Red Devils this season after the club collected their ​lowest points tally after 11 games in the Premier League era, but in fact ​Sunday's win means that they are now unbeaten in their last seven games in all competitions at Old Trafford. 


That's Man Utd's longest home unbeaten run since March 2018 when they went eight games unbeaten to help Jose Mourinho on his way to the greatest achievement of his career: finishing second with that United team.


Another criticism that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side have faced this season is that they have not been exciting enough to watch. Just 16 goals in 12 matches would imply that that suggestion is correct, especially when you take into account that ten of those goals have come in three games.

​​But actually Davy Propper's own goal saw the Red Devils go 2-0 up against ​Brighton inside just 18 minutes and 50 seconds, which is the quickest Man Utd have gone two up since the aforementioned victory over Palace, when goals from Josh Harrop (now at Preston) and Paul Pogba, put them two goals up after just 18 minutes and 15 seconds.

Source: 90min