Brentford’s 2023/24 Premier League campaign continues with a trip to Old Trafford on Saturday.
Thomas Frank’s side have seven points from as many games this season and begin the day in 14th, while Manchester United – following a 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford last weekend – are four places and two points better off.
The game kicks off at 3pm and will not be broadcast live in the UK.
Pre-match Analysis
Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: Brentford must pay special attention to Fernandes and Højlund
Brentford travel to the Theatre of Dreams this Saturday to face a Manchester United side that have endured a difficult start to the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.
Although Erik ten Hag's side have recorded wins over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest and Burnley, they have suffered top-flight reverses against Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion and Crystal Palace. It’s the Red Devils’ worst start to a season in 34 years.
Add two Champions League losses into the mix and the pressure is on for United to return to winning ways against the Bees.
Both clubs parted ways with established goalkeepers in the summer and it is interesting to note that both United boss Ten Hag and Brentford head coach Thomas Frank are using their new stoppers to dictate possession and start attacks.
A good example to illustrate the point can be found in both sides' goal-kick statistics.
Both the Bees (70 per cent) and United (63 per cent) launched the majority of their goal-kicks last season, but - with Mark Flekken and Andre Onana now between the sticks - Brentford (40 per cent) and United (26 per cent) have drastically reduced the number of times they have punted goalkicks upfield.
On average, both side's goalkicks are more than 15 yards shorter this season and, in this context, it is worth noting that Brentford have had more touches in the defensive third than any team in the top flight in 2023/24.
As a mistake from Onana in the Champions League tie against Galatasaray on Tuesday underlined, the balance between risk and reward is delicate playing out from the back.
One huge positive from the Red Devils' 3-2 loss to the Turkish side was the form of burly Danish striker Rasmus Højlund, who will be desperate to open his account in the Premier League after a brace midweek.
Signed in the summer from Atalanta, the 20-year-old Denmark international looks capable of providing the type of cutting edge that Ten Hag's side have badly lacked during his tenure thus far.
Third in the top flight last season, United scored fewer goals than any team in the top six in 2022/23 and this term they have scored only seven league goals, which is four fewer than they have conceded.
The underlying data hints at a lack of clinical edge hampering the Red Devils, who have consistently ranked near the top of the charts for both shots taken and shots on target over the past two seasons.
With Højlund now in situ, United will hope their new forward quickly strikes up a rapport with captain Bruno Fernandes, who is perhaps the best prism through which to view United's lack of ruthlessness.
With 66 goals and 65 assists in 194 games since moving to Manchester from Sporting in 2020, the Portugal international carries much of United's creative burden and his numbers across a range of stats suggest United aren't capitalising on his efforts.
Ranking top for expected assists this season in the Premier League, the midfielder also places in the top 10 for progressive passes, through balls, key passes, shot-creating actions, accurate corners and accurate crosses.
There are plenty of high-profile talents to keep quiet, but Brentford should pay special attention to Fernandes and Højlund if they want to crank the pressure up a notch at Old Trafford.
Scout Report
Pressure building at Old Trafford after United’s worst start since 1986
Erik ten Hag oversaw an overall incredibly positive first season as Manchester United after joining the club from Ajax last summer.
The Dutchman guided the Red Devils to a third-place finish and they also won the Carabao Cup for the first time since 2016/17, reached the quarter-final of the Europa League and finished as runners-up in the FA Cup, not to mention a reinvigorated Marcus Rashford reaching the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career.
After watching sworn enemies Manchester City win the FA Cup at their expense, Ten Hag said: “It’s a motivation; you have to feel it in your stomach. It has to be fuel.”
The Dutchman remoulded his squad in pre-season with the signing of Mason Mount from Chelsea to bolster the midfield, Andre Onana from Inter Milan to replace David De Gea in goal and Rasmus Højlund from Atalanta to add another dimension in attack. There was something to build on; things were looking pretty bright at Old Trafford.
It is fair to say things look different now. In the Premier League, a record of three wins and four defeats from the first seven games means United have made their worst start since the league was founded in 1992. In fact, they have not made a worse start since the 1989/90 campaign, three years into Sir Alex Ferguson’s 26-year reign as manager.
Meanwhile, they are through to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, after a quite routine 3-0 win over Crystal Palace last week, but that’s about as good as it has got so far in cup competitions. In the Champions League, they sit bottom of Group A, following a 4-3 defeat away at Bayern Munich and a shock 3-2 loss at home to Galatasaray earlier this week.
Tyrone Marshall, senior football writer at the Manchester Evening News, believes Ten Hag has credit in the bank with both the Manchester United board and supporters, which is understandable. After several years of disappointment and frustration, to dispose of the man who changed that last term so early into this season would be controversial.
In the Dugout
Erik ten Hag
Before he became a manager, Erik ten Hag had a 13-year playing career as a centre-back in his native Netherlands, the majority of which was spent FC Twente, a club he signed for on three separate occasions.
He lifted the KNVB Cup in 2000/01 and retired at De Grolsch Veste, aged 32 in 2002.
He spent the four years that followed his retirement as a coach in Twente’s youth set-up, before working as the first-team assistant to Fred Rutten and, later, to Steve McClaren during first spell in charge of the Dutch club.
Rutten brought Ten Hag with him to PSV in 2009, helping the club to successive third-place finishes in the Eredivisie.
Four months after Rutten was sacked in 2012, Ten Hag was appointed as a manager in his own right for the first time at Eerste Divisie side Go Ahead Eagles, who he led to promotion in his first and only season in charge.
He then moved on to Bayern Munich II, who he guided to the Regionalliga Bayern in 2013/14, with a squad that included Emre Can and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
In May 2015, he joined former club Utrecht and left after two and a half years, and a 51 per cent win ratio, to join Ajax three days after Christmas in 2017. It was at the Johan Cruyff Arena that he really started to make a name for himself.
In four and a half years, his team won the Eredivisie three times, the KNVB Cup twice and the Johan Cruyff Shield on one occasion, as well as reaching the semi-final of the Champions League in 2018/19 and the quarter-final of the Europa League in 2020/21.
Ten Hag signed a new two-year deal with Ajax in May 2021, but, 11 months later, it was announced he would become the new Manchester United manager. He left the Dutch club earlier than expected to begin work at Old Trafford after Ralf Rangnick’s short spell in charge.
Team News
Brentford remain without seven first-team players
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has issued a fitness update ahead of the Bees' trip to Manchester United on Saturday.
Frank is without seven first-team players at the moment - including Ivan Toney, who made his return to action earlier this week - and informed how his squad is looking ahead of this weekend's Premier League clash.
“No [players are returning]. All of them are long-term-ish," he said. "They’re definitely not available for the weekend; that's the most important thing for me.”
Going into more detail on centre-back Ben Mee, Frank added: “He has a muscle injury. He’s progressing fine and is probably the closest to coming back."
The Gameplan
With Tyrone Marshall, senior football writer at Manchester Evening News
Tyrone Marshall, senior football writer at the Manchester Evening News, explains how Erik ten Hag is likely to set up his side on Saturday:
“It will probably be the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 he normally goes with.
“He’s changed it a bit this season because they have had so many issues, especially on the right wing, with Antony and Jadon Sancho being unavailable.
“The former is back in training now and, by the time of the Brentford game, he will probably have had enough training to be ready to start.”
Read the full interview with Tyrone Marshall here
Match Officials
Madley the man in the middle
Referee: Andrew Madley
Assistants: Harry Lennard and Nick Hopton
Fourth Official: Stephen Martin
Video Assistant Referee: Peter Bankes
Andrew Madley took charge of a Premier League game for the first time on 31 March 2018: a 2-2 draw between Watford and Bournemouth.
Last season Madley officiated 34 matches including Brentford’s 2-0 victory over Chelsea in April.
In total, Madley showed 122 yellow cards and one red card last term.
Last Meeting
Manchester United 1 Brentford 0 (Premier League, 5 April 2023)
Marcus Rashford’s close-range effort handed Brentford just their second Premier League defeat in 17 games as Manchester United narrowly came out on top at a sodden Old Trafford.
The home side dominated the first half and were rewarded just before the half-hour when Rashford slammed home Marcel Sabitzer’s knock-down from the edge of the six-yard box.
Erik ten Hag’s side had chances to put the game to bed, Antony in particular guilty of some wasteful finishing, and were nearly punished by a much-improved Brentford after the break.
Substitute Kevin Schade had the Bees’ best chance, but he couldn’t beat David De Gea from close range as United got some measure of revenge for August’s 4-0 defeat in west London.