Brentford -v- Manchester United
Premier League
Gtech Community Stadium, Brentford
Saturday 13 August 2022, KO 17:30 BST
Manchester United travel to the Gtech Community Stadium where they will face Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday evening. Erik ten Hag’s side will be seeking to gain their first points in the league this season after that terrible defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday.
Despite the defeat and the rumours linking the Old Trafford club with a number of signings, it looks unlikely that any new signings will be involved in this match with the club needing to sign them by noon on Friday to be cleared and with work permits needed, it will likely be the same squad.
United really need to find their feet against Brentford, who will be up for trying to disgrace Ten Hag’s side in their second match of the season. It will be a worrying time to the Dutchman, who saw his team play some good football in the first three pre-season matches only to regress massively.
Manchester United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 L, Rayo Vallecano 1-1 D, Atlético Madrid 1-0 L, Aston Villa 2-2 D, Crystal Palace 3-1 W, Melbourne Victory 4-1 W
Goals: 1 – Own Goal
Assists: N/A
Brentford – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Leicester City 2-2 D, Real Betis 1-0 W, Brighton and Hove Albion 1-0 W, Wolfsburg 4-0 L, Strasbourg 2-2 D, VfB Stuttgart 2-1 L
Goals: 1 – Josh Dasilva, Ivan Toney
Assists: 1 – Rico Henry
Previous Meetings & Connections
United and Brentford have met twice in the Premier League with United winning both matches. United have scored six goals, winning one penalty and scoring it. Brentford have scored just one goal, winning no penalties. Thomas Frank’s will be seeking their first win though.
United have kept one clean sheet over the two matches with Brentford not keeping any. There were minor disciplinary issues last season with one United player getting booked – no red cards. Brentford have not yet had a player booked in this fixture.
Christian Eriksen, Joshua Bohui and Max Haygarth are the only three players who have played for both United and Brentford. Eriksen had a six-month contract last season, becoming a free agent this summer. Bohui came through the youth ranks at Brentford and Haygarth did the same at United.
Team News
Anthony Martial (hamstring) has been absent from training so far this week, so he will probably miss the Brentford match. Facundo Pellistri (sprained ankle) has been missing since injuring himself against Atlético Madrid in the penultimate pre-season friendly.
Ten Hag is yet to decide whether to give Cristiano Ronaldo his first start of the season against Brentford with no other striker available for this match. It is possible that Scott McTominay or Fred could miss out after their performances last week. Something needs to give there.
Brentford could be without Sergi Canos (hamstring), Ethan Pinnock (knee) and Kristoffer Ajer (hamstring) who were all missing in the 2-2 draw with Leicester City last weekend. New signing Mikkel Damsgaard could make his debut for the club against United.
Predicted Manchester United Starting XI – 4-3-3
De Gea;
Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Malacia;
Eriksen, Garner, Fernandes;
Sancho, Ronaldo, Garnacho
Predicted Brentford Starting XI – 4-3-3
Raya;
Hickey, Jansson, Mee, Henry;
Janelt, Norgaard, Jensen;
Mbeumo, Toney, Damsgaard
Match Prediction
United need to fare much better against Brentford than they did against Brighton last weekend at Old Trafford. Ten Hag’s had them playing good football in the first three matches of pre-season but last week, it seemed that it had all been forgotten.
Scott McTominay and Fred just did not get started in the match and for this one, both need to be missed out of the squad completely and work harder to break back in after other players have been given a chance. If they know they will start, there is no pressure to perform.
The attacking line needs to be working too. I don’t think the formation last week was the best as United just did not get started. They were better in the second half but that would not have been tough being that they were terrible in the first half. Brentford will be confident this weekend.
Brentford 1-3 Manchester United
Written by John Walker
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