Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton could finish as high as eighth this season, but also as low as 14th and boss Roberto de Zerbi, speaking after the 1-1 draw at Newcastle, says a top-10 finish in the Premier League would be a "great result" for the club.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport at Old Trafford

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Erik ten Hag defended Rasmus Hojlund to me in his press conference yesterday.

Tonight Hojlund is on the bench.

The Danish striker has scored once in 12 appearances for club and country since his return from injury in March.

Some big calls there from Erik ten Hag, who has left three of his most dangerous goal threats - Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford and Antony - on the bench.

Will the decisions pay off? We will find out in a few hours' time.

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes returns from a rare injury and takes the place of Rasmus Hojlund.

That is the only change from their 1-0 defeat by Arsenal, meaning Casemiro and Jonny Evans start at the back again.

Lisandro Martínez and Marcus Rashford are on the bench after injuries.

Man Utd: Onana, Dalot, Casemiro, Evans, Wan-Bissaka, Mainoo, Amrabat, Diallo, McTominay, Garnacho, Fernandes.

Subs: Bayindir, Martinez, Rashford, Eriksen, Hojlund, Antony, Kambwala, Forson, Collyer.

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Kieran Trippier makes his first start for Newcastle since 2 March after recovering from injury.

He takes the place of Tino Livramento - with everyone else keeping their place from the 1-1 draw with Brighton.

Alexander Isak, who came off unwell in that game, is fit to start.

Nick Pope is on the bench for the third game in a row as he waits for a first appearance of 2024 following a shoulder injury.

Newcastle: Dubravka, Trippier, Krafth, Burn, Hall, Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Anderson, J Murphy, Isak, Gordon.

Subs: Schar, Dummett, Joelinton, Ritchie, Barnes, Pope, Almiron, White, A Murphy.

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Newcastle have already beaten Manchester United twice this season, 3-0 at Old Trafford in the EFL Cup and 1-0 at home in the Premier League.

The last team to win three games against the Red Devils in a campaign were Chelsea in 2012-13.

Newcastle have won their last three meetings with Manchester United, as many as in their previous 21.

The last English team to win four in a row against the Red Devils were Manchester City between 2013 and 2014.

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If Manchester United lose today it will be the first season in their history that they have lost 10 games at Old Trafford in all competitions.

They moved to Old Trafford in 1910.

Newcastle, 3-0 in the Carabao Cup on 1 November, are one of the nine teams to win here this season.

The others are Brighton, Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, Manchester City, Bournemouth, Bayern Munich, Fulham and Arsenal.

A defeat would also practically guarantee a worst league finish since 1989-90.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

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Brighton enter the final week of what has been both a historic and challenging campaign with a realistic shot at finishing ninth, which would be their second-highest placing and second-highest top flight points tally. Manager Roberto de Zerbi was also responsible for the best last season.

Yet for the second half of the campaign De Zerbi has behaved as though he has had enough of the ‘Brighton model’ and that he resents the restrictions imposed by it.

Chief executive Paul Barber does not offer clarity over the De Zerbi’s future. But he does confirm conversations have always been honest and open.

“Privately, Roberto is quiet, calm, reasonable and sensible,” says Barber. “He understands what our limitations are. Behind the scenes, the model is very well known to him.

“He has got two more years to go. My understanding is that he is happy. He likes the club. He likes this group of players a lot. He knows he has a good owner. He knows he has good facilities. He knows it is a club that has a particular model and we won’t break it for anyone. Those are consistent. He also knows he can see me or Tony (owner Tony Bloom) at any time. There are no surprises.

“What we can’t control is a club anywhere in the world coming in and making an approach for him. But we knew that with Graham Potter, and Chris Hughton, who did a great job for us. We are very cognisant of that happening to us but we have a plan for all those eventualities.”

• Read more of BBC Sport's interview with Paul Barber.

Chelsea

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino on facing Brighton and trying to achieve European qualification: "It's important to keep a strong mentality and really believe. They are going to be two really tough games. Brighton are a really good team and then [we have] Bournemouth at home [on the final day]. The most important thing is to believe.

"In the past 26 or 27 games we're doing really well. We need to keep in this way - always trying our best, to compete and keep improving. If we can compete well in the last two games, then we have the possibility to get into Europe, which would be amazing for us."

On his future and next season, he added: "I always try to be positive and to translate my feelings. But I never said I'm not thinking of the future. We're thinking of the future; it's already planned. The plan is there to start the pre-season - the date we're going to start - and then it's not in my hands to be here or not to be here.

"I'm so excited for the future. If we keep the main group and add some quality, and keep on the same run as the past 26 or 27 games, we can compete for big things."

Brighton make two changes to the side who drew 1-1 with Newcastle on Saturday.

Striker Joao Pedro is fit to face Chelsea after missing his side's last match. He replaces Danny Welbeck who drops to the bench.

Joel Veltman picked up an injury against Newcastle and isn't in the squad for tonight's game. Tariq Lamptey starts at full-back in his place.

Brighton XI: Verbruggen; Lamptey, Webster, Dunk, Igor; Gross, Gilmour; Buonanotte, Enciso, Adingra; Pedro.

Subs: Steele, Lallana, Moder, Welbeck, Barco, Baleba, Fati, Offiah, Atom.

As for Chelsea they make just one change to the team who won 3-2 at Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

Outgoing defender Thiago Silva drops to the bench, with Malo Gusto given a start. Full-backs Ben Chilwell and Reece James are both named as substitutes having previously struggled with injuries this season.

Chelsea XI: Petrovic; Gusto, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella; Caicedo, Gallagher; Madueke, Palmer, Mudryk; Jackson.

Subs: Bettinelli, Thiago Silva, Sterling, Ugochukwu, Nkunku, Chilwell, James, Colwill, Casadei.

With Premier League teams voting on whether to scrap video assistant referees (VAR) for next season, what do you think the future of VAR should be?

Get involved. Send your texts and tweets to the details above.

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Premier League clubs will vote on whether to scrap video assistant referees (VAR) from next season at their annual general meeting next month.

Wolves have formally submitted a resolution to the Premier League which will trigger a vote when the 20 member clubs meet in Harrogate on 6 June.

The club said VAR was introduced "in good faith" but has led to "numerous unintended negative consequences that are damaging the relationship between fans and football".

VAR was introduced in 2019 to help support on-field officials with key match decisions, but there have been a number of controversial incidents involving the technology this season.

"The price we are paying for a small increase in accuracy is at odds with the spirit of our game," read a Wolves statement.

The Premier League said it "acknowledged the concerns" about VAR but "fully supports" technology and will continue to work with referees' body PGMOL to make improvements.

Plenty more on tonight's matches to come, but there has been some big news from the Premier League in the last half an hour...

These are the fixtures left in the Premier League campaign. Brighton can't make Europe, but will have a big say on who does as they still have to play Chelsea and Manchester United.

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Three of tonight's four teams are battling it out for a European place.

Manchester United will qualify for the Europa League if they win the FA Cup final - and then only the top six in the league will.

But if Manchester City win at Wembley then seventh will be enough for a Conference League spot.

Newcastle would guarantee a top-seven spot with a win tonight, and 99.9% assured of a top-six place if they win and Chelsea lose.

Manchester United's poor goal difference means they pretty much have to win or better Chelsea's result tonight to retain hope of qualifying for Europe through the league. They have never finished eighth in the Premier League before.

A Chelsea win as good as guarantees top seven.

Tottenham will be guaranteed to be in the Europa League if either Newcastle or Chelsea fail to win today. However, Spurs could still miss out on Europe altogether but only if all of the following things happen...

• Spurs lose at Sheffield United.
• Newcastle and Chelsea both win their last two matches
• Manchester United beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

Hello and welcome along to BBC Sport's coverage of Wednesday's Premier League action.

We have Brighton v Chelsea kicking off at 19:45 BST, before Manchester United entertain Newcastle at 20:00 BST.

With a dozen matches of the 2023-24 Premier League season to go, Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester United are all still in the hunt for European qualification.

They are all in action tonight and could each take big steps towards some continental competition for 2024-25.

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