Manchester United meet Brentford at Old Trafford in a rearranged Premier League encounter.
Victory or a draw would see Man Utd go third if they can better Newcastle’s result at West Ham, whilst Brentford can go sixth if Brighton lose elsewhere on Tuesday evening.
Team News
Man Utd have no fresh injury concerns to report after Sunday’s defeat at Newcastle United, as Harry Maguire looks to start after he was named as an unused substitute at the weekend.
Aaron Wan Bissaka meanwhile is set to return after illness kept him out of the trip to Newcastle.
Casemiro (suspension), Tom Heaton, Christian Eriksen, Alejandro Garnacho (all ankle), Donny van de Beek (knee) and Mason Greenwood (personal) remain absent.
Brentford will be without Frank Onyeka after the midfielder suffered a hamstring injury prior to their 3-3 draw at Brighton on Saturday.
Shandon Baptiste will return after he missed the trip to Brighton due to suspension.
Vitaly Janelt (knee) is unlikely to be risked after missing their last two matches but Kristoffer Ajaer (calf) and Keane Lewis-Potter (knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Man Utd host Brentford at Old Trafford in a 8pm BST kick-off on Wednesday 5 April, albeit untelevised live in UK, although Sky Sports will air highlights at 10:30pm.
Stat Attack
- Man Utd have won two of three previous Premier League meetings against Brentford (W2, L1).
- Brentford lost their only previous Premier League visit to Man Utd by a 3-0 result in May 2022.
- All 11 goals across the three previous Premier League meetings between Utd and Brentford have been scored by different goalscorers.
- Marcus Rashford has scored eight goals in his last seven league appearances at home for Utd.
- Ivan Toney has produced two goals and one assist in Brentford’s last two away matches.
Prediction
Having failed to win any of their last three league matches since winning the Carabao Cup, Man Utd now must reset because they’re right back in a dogfight for a top-four finish after a sluggish loss at Newcastle where they didn’t offer much going forward.
Tiredness though is little excuse given that those not on international duty have just had the international break to relax ready for the run-in, yet credit has to be given to David De Gea for his fantastic goalkeeping and defence for their deep efforts to limit Newcastle to just two goals.
Brentford meanwhile could be sniffing a top-four spot if they can beat Utd but their defence needs to be more solid, having conceded three goals at Brighton from an one-goal lead in an entertaining draw amidst fantastic end product despite being outplayed by the Seagulls overall.
Thomas Frank’s Bees also absolutely thrashed Man Utd at home in August so should have a lot of confidence coming into this match, yet Frank is right in that it will be “difficult” because Utd have the talent to turn their rut around despite not playing especially well lately performance wise.
On that note, I think the first goal will be crucial because if Brentford can play like they did at Brighton and score first, I do fancy them to go and get the win but if Utd get ahead then it will be a tough test of Brentford’s resilience and a draw might be a fair result.
Prediction: Manchester United 1-1 Brentford
Result: Manchester United 1-0 Brentford
Leave a Reply