Higginbotham: Manchester United affected by defensive uncertainty

Danny Higginbotham says Manchester United’s 3-2 defeat to Brighton on Sunday was down to their lack of a regular centre-back partnership.

United began the new Premier League season with a 2-1 win at home to Leicester but they were outclassed on the south coast as they lost to Chris Hughton's side.

Higginbotham - who came through the ranks at Old Trafford and played four times for the first team - highlighted the problems Mourinho faces in settling on a defensive partnership that he can rely on.

"I think the problem they have is that in [Eric] Bailly and [Victor] Lindelof, they have no consistency," Higginbotham told Sky Sports News as he looked ahead to United's Monday Night Football fixture with Tottenham - live on Sky Sports.

"We have seen [Chris] Smalling play, we have seen [Phil] Jones play and [Nemanja] Matic play at centre-half and there is no consistent partnership.

"You look at any successful team, whether it be domestic or international, it's built around a rock-solid centre-back partnership.

"Mourinho, because he hasn't got consistent performing centre-backs he trusts, the players in front who want to go forward and express themselves have an extra defensive responsibility on their shoulders, so they are playing 10-15 yards deeper than they want to.

"That has a huge knock-on effect on Manchester United going forward."

Credit: Skysports.com