Manchester United welcomes Brentford to Old Trafford on Wednesday evening, looking to end a three-game Premier League winless streak.
The Red Devils were soundly defeated 2-0 by Newcastle United on Saturday, while the Bees were held to a 3-3 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Man United were outclassed, outfought, and outhustled by their counterparts in black and white on Sunday afternoon, in a manner strikingly similar to Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle at St James’ Park last season, which all but ended the Gunners’ hopes of Champions League football.
Revenge was the name of the game for Newcastle a few weeks after suffering heartbreak in the EFL Cup final at the fingers of Erik ten Hag’s men, but second-half headers from Joe Willock and Callum Wilson extended Manchester United’s recent poor form in the top flight.
Both Ten Hag and a disgruntled Luke Shaw admitted that Newcastle’s “passion, desire, and hunger” outweighed Man United’s, who have now decided to drop below their North East counterparts into fourth place in the Premier League table, gaining only one point from their last three top-flight fixtures.
With the Europa League and FA Cup taking precedence well before the international break, it is reasonable to assert that Ten Hag’s men have neglected their Premier League responsibilities, and the Red Devils could not get a goal in four consecutive Premier League matches for the first time in their heritage this week.
However, none of the presenter’ last 12 Premier League matches at Old Trafford have ended in defeat, and their eight goals conceded at home is the highest-ranked record of its kind in the Premier League, while Brentford could learn a thing or two about keeping the back door shut at the Amex.
The battle between two European strangers lived up to the reimbursement and then some, with Pontus Jansson, Ethan Pinnock, and Ivan Toney leaving with another goal on their records three times.
Brentford moved up to the seventh place, one point ahead of a disjointed Liverpool side, despite having played one more game than the Merseyside giants. Frank’s men have only two wins in their last seven top-flight games, failing to beat relegation battlers Everton and Leicester City.
The Bees followed that up with a fantastic 2-1 win at Manchester City’s home – no team has won away at both Manchester clubs in a single season since Arsenal in 1991 – but Frank orchestrated a horrible 3-0 loss at Old Trafford towards the season’s conclusion.
Team News- Manchester United
With no fewer than four injury enhances before the trip to St James’, Ten Hag embraced all of Raphael Varane, Marcus Rashford, Marcel Sabitzer, and the unfortunate Anthony Martial into his top positions for that defeat – the latter of whom should now be considered for a start over the ineffective Wout Weghorst.
However, Alejandro Garnacho, Tom Heaton, and Christian Eriksen remained out, as did Donny van de Beek (knee), while Casemiro served the final game of his four-match domestic ban, limiting Ten Hag’s options in the centre of the pitch once more.
Right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka was also a delayed absentee from Sunday’s game because of illness, but if he recovers quickly, he could be one of a few changes along with Fred and Jadon Sancho.
Team News- Brentford
Shandon Baptiste returns from a one-game suspension for Brentford, but Vitaly Janelt is still out with a knee injury.
Kristoffer Ajer (calf) and Keane Lewis-Potter (knee) also are out until the end of the season, but Frank has no new concerns to report from the six-goal deadlock with Brighton, where Jansson scored on his first Premier League start since October.
Predictions-
Manchester United 3-1 Brentford
