Confirmed XI: United v Brentford – Ronaldo starts; Fernández, Garnacho and Cavani on the bench

Manchester United welcome Brentford at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Monday evening. It is the final home match of the season for United and it will be a match that many players will be saying their goodbyes to the supporters of the club.

United have been in terrible form this season and in recent weeks, it is something that demonstrates that this squad of players is not working as well as it should, signalling that a change needs to come in the squad under the management of Erik ten Hag from this summer.

Ralf Rangnick has done a brilliant job exposing the problems at the club and his role as a consultant after his management stint ends should be good to continue the rebuild, which needs to be done properly now, not by throwing money at players uncommitted to the club.

This has been the case for almost a decade now and United, despite a few runner-up finishes, has not challenged for the Premier League title, which is a must from now on. Brentford will be up for the challenge of upsetting United in their final match of the season – that is a definite.

Manchester United:

De Gea;

Dalot, Lindelöf, Varane, Telles;

McTominay, Matić;

Elanga, Fernandes, Mata;

Ronaldo

Substitutes:

Henderson; Bailly, Jones, Fernández; Lingard, Fred, Garnacho; Rashford, Cavani

Brentford:

Raya;

Ajer, Roerslev, Jansson, Sørensen, Henry;

Janet, Nørgaard, Eriksen;

Mbeumo, Toney

Substitutes:

Fernández; Jeanvier, Stevens; Jensen, Dasilva, Wissa, Fosu-Henry, Baptiste; Young-Coombes

United and Brentford have met once in the Premier League. United won that match. United have scored three goals, winning no penalties. Brentford have scored one goal, winning no penalties. This is a very new rivalry with the club reaching the Premier League this season.

United have kept no clean sheets with Brentford keeping none. Discipline has not been an issue with no bookings at this stage for either club. United may be seeking to get something against Brentford in this match, seeking to end their season on a high after some poor results in the past few months.

Joshua Bohui is perhaps the only player to have played for both Brentford and United, although this was at youth level. The forward came through the ranks at Brentford signing from the Evolution Sports & Health Academy in 2011, signing for United in 2016.

Max Haygarth is the only other player who has played for both clubs. Haygarth is currently at Brentford B, leaving United’s academy last summer. It is early days for links between these clubs – there could be more links in the future, which would be good to see.

Written by John Walker