The mere mention of Brighton & Hove Albion is enough to bring most of this United squad out in a cold sweat. Trips to the Amex Stadium towards the end of last season and the start of this set the tone for the disintegration of Jose Mourinho’s reign at the club. The 1-0 defeat last season and then the 3-2 reverse in the first away trip of the season have left a few scars when it comes to the Seagulls. United beat them twice at Old Trafford last season without conceding a goal but the nature of those defeats on the south coast mean those successes feel like they’ve been wiped from the memory.

So a few players will feel they have a point to prove against Chris Hughton’s side this weekend. This is now a different United team, freed from the Mourinho straitjacket and liberated through Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s light touch, but they will want to put the record right against Brighton. Victor Lindelof, in particular, will feel like he has a statement to make. He remained an unused substitute in May but was given a torrid afternoon by Glenn Murray in August.

It came just as the Swede was appearing to make progress in his United career after a difficult start, but a duel with Murray was just the sort of occasion that has troubled him in the past and those nightmares returned at the Amex, with his confidence visibly draining away as United wilted.

But that display has proved to the exception rather than the norm for Lindelof this season. Since then he has been United’s best defender this season and his gradual improvement has elevated him to first choice central defender. The debate has turned from who should replace Lindelof to who should partner him instead.