Manchester United won't have the chance to move into the Premier League top four this weekend after their clash with Brighton was postponed due to an ongoing Covid-19 outbreak in the United squad.
United 's last fixture vs Brentford was also postponed due to a “significant number of Covid-19 cases” in the United squad after a small number of players had tested positive after the 1-0 win over Norwich last weekend.
With so many fixtures squished into a small period of time during the Christmas schedule, a Covid-19 outbreak was always certain to effect more than one game, and with the rapid spread currently of the new Omicron strain in the UK, a number of Premier League matches have already been postponed for the upcoming weekend.
Ralf Rangnick's side will next be seen on December 27 when they visit relegation-battling Newcastle United, and if Arsenal's game with Leeds United goes ahead as planned on Saturday, the Reds will have two games in hand on their top four rivals.
But, if the game was to have gone ahead, what could the final score have been? Could United have potentially moved into the top four of the Premier league?
We used FIFA 22 to get a score prediction for Manchester United vs Brighton on Saturday and this is what happened...
Man United vs Brighton score predicted by simulation
We used kick-off mode in FIFA 22, but didn't select a team to control, we then selected the teams and watched the match play out by itself, to give us a score prediction.
Due to not knowing which players have Covid-19, we used both sides line-up's from their last fixtures.
We predict that United could've set up in a 4-2-2-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: De Gea; Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire, Telles ; McTominay, Fred; Sancho, Fernandes; Ronaldo, Rashford.
And we predict that the Seagulls could've set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Sanchez; Lamptey, Veltman, Burn, Cucurella; Bissouma, Moder; Trossard, Mwepu, March; Connolly
Cristiano Ronaldo coming closest for United with a thumping header from a corner skimming the bar.
As it looked to finish 0-0 at the break, Brighton took the lead through Enock Mwepu, with the Zambian international ghosting into the box at the back post to tap home Marc Cucurella's cross to make it 1-0.
Brighton then stunned Old Trafford just five minutes after the restart through Yves Bissouma's stunner.
Bissouma was quickest to react to a loose ball outside the United box and pounced on the opportunity as he brushed past Scott McTominay, and his second touch saw him strike a fierce effort at goal, flying past David De Gea and into the top corner.
Rangnick's side didn't let the two goal lead phase them though, with Jadon Sancho managing to pull one goal back on the hour mark.
As United sent most of their airal threats to the back post, the run of Sancho was left blindly marked by Brighton, and his header at the near post was flicked out of the 'keeper's grasp and into the bottom corner.
Substitute Donny van de Beek then made it 2-2 with just under 10 minutes to go.
A high-press from the Dutch midfielder saw van de Beek win the ball from the Brighton centre-back and charge towards goal, putting himself in a one on one situation.
The midfielder had Marcus Rashford in support, and van de Beek used his run to distract the 'keeper as he drilled an effort into the bottom corner.
With 10 minutes to go, United were unable to find a winner as the points were shared.
FIFA 22 predicted final score: Man United 2-2 Brighton and Hove Albion
Here are the full-time match stats:
The FIFA 22 simulation predicted that if United were to have played, they could've potentially stumbled against Brighton, needing to come from two goals behind to salvage a point at Old Trafford and potentially miss the chance to move into the top four.
FIFA 22 is the latest game within EA's popular FIFA video game franchise, which was released worldwide on Friday, October 1, 2021. The game is available now on all platforms including Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Stadia and PC.
