Despite selling two of their most important players this season, Roberto De Zerbis Brighton have made a magnificent start to the Premier League, winning five of their first eight games, placing them sixth, only four points behind the league leaders.
Brighton have been well known for exhibiting brilliance in the build-up since De Zerbi arrived last season; theyve caught the eye for the flexible entertainment and attacking football that, of course, has forced the opposition to work hard to try and stop them.
Our tactical analysis and scout report will provide an in-depth analysis of a method that has been used to stifle Brightons build-up, commonly employed of late: the diamond shape of pressing that Manchester United, Aston Villa, and Liverpool have opted for.
Lets start with a tactical analysis of The Red Devils high-pressing tactics against The Seagulls.
Manchester United Vs Brighton
Brighton used their 2–4–4 shape during the build-up, with the full-backs, Veltman and Lamptey, pushing forward to be on the same line as the double-pivot Pascal Groß and Mahmoud Dahoud, as well as Danny Welbeck dropping with Lallana to get Casemiro in a 2v1 situation.
On the other hand, Manchester used a 4–4–2 diamond shape while pressing high.
Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Højlund pressed the centre-backs, with one of them closing the passing lane towards one of the pivots, leaving the other to be marked by Bruno Fernandes.
Christian Eriksen and Scott McTominay are positioned narrower to close the direct passing lanes towards Welbeck and Adam Lallana on the half-spaces while being ready to press the oppositions full-backs.
Lastly, Lisandro Martínez had to follow Welbeck when he dropped, so Casemiro was focused on Lallana.
Notice below the diamond midfield shape of the home side.
Rashford is pressing Jan Paul van Hecke, while Højlund is ready to press Lewis Dunk while keeping Dahoud in his cover shadow, leaving Fernandes to mark Groß.
Meanwhile, Eriksen and McTominay are positioned more centrally to close down any possible vertical pass, also marking the full-backs.
The narrow positioning of Eriksen and McTominay left a marked space for the full-backs on the wide areas.
Erik ten Hags main intention in
