Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has talked down rumours linking him with the Manchester United job.

Hurzeler has been named as a potential options for Manchester United should Michael Carrick lose his job. Manchester United have taken just seven points from seven Premier League games and were thrashed 4-1 by Como in the Champions League in midweek. United are winless in seven games across all competitions.

It's a contrast to Hurzeler, whose Brighton side sit third in the table. The Seagulls have won four consecutive Premier League games without conceding, scoring 15 times in the process.

Asked about potential interest from Old Trafford, Hurzeler talked down the reports. He said he's focused on success with the Seagulls and said he has 'a lot of respect' for Carrick.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Liverpool, Hurzeler said: "I'm really focused on my job here. I have no time to think about these rumours because we play every three days and, beside that, I have a lot of respect for Michael Carrick and what he has done with Manchester United the last season.

"He's a great human being, a great personality. There's nothing more to say about that."

The German was also keen to play down talk of a title challenge. Brighton are the league's leading scorers, and thrashed champions Arsenal 3-0 last month. However, he said it's too soon to speak about his side as title contenders.

"No! We go game by game, we try to focus on performance.

"Just yesterday I had a conversation with the players and I love the way they are thinking. They said 'we don't want to focus on results, we want to focus on performances and how we get better, how we can improve because then the results will come'.

"Then we can speak at the end of the season about where we are, where we should have been. But now it is solution-focused, process-orientated and trying to get the best out of the players."