THE OPPOSITION
Last term was only the second time Manchester United have finished in the Premier League's top two since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013. In the league, they ended a solid 12 points behind rivals Man City despite losing the same amount of games (six) all season.
Both domestic cup campaigns lasted four matches. In the Carabao Cup, they got past Luton, Brighton and Everton on the way to a Semi-Final clash with Man City. John Stones and Fernandinho scored the goals as United were beaten 2-0. They overcame Liverpool, West Ham and Watford in the Emirates FA Cup but once again they were beaten by the eventual winners as Leicester City cruised past them 3-1 in the Quarter-Finals.
Their time in the UEFA Champions League was one to forget, United finishing third in the group stage that included Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig and İstanbul Başakşehir. Dropping into the Europa League, they made it all the way to the Final. Real Sociedad, AC Milan, Granada and AS Roma all fell to The Red Devils along the way. The Final itself, held in Gdansk, went to penalties after a 1-1 finish in normal time. Villarreal emerged victorious as goalkeeper David de Gea missed his spot-kick, the final score 11-10 in the shootout.
United have been Europe's big spenders this summer with Jadon Sancho arriving from Borussia Dortmund while an agreement has been reached for Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane.
TEAM NEWS
Pontus Jansson, Christian Norgaard, and Mathias Jensen are still not with the Brentford group yet following this summer's European Championships.
It's a similar story for Manchester United with a host of stars, including the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Alex Shaw, Jadon Sancho, and Paul Pogba, all set to miss out tonight following their involvement in the summer. Diego Dalot, Donny van de Beek, and Scott McTominay may get minutes tonight but Alex Telles, Marcus Rashford, and Anthony Martial are out injured. Jesse Lingard, Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Nemanja Matic, and Mason Greenwood are likely to feature after playing against QPR on Saturday.
THE MANAGER
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer started his playing career in his native Norway, beginning at Clausenengen and later Molde. He moved to Manchester United in 1996 and, under Ferguson's guidance, won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He famously scored a last-minute winner in the 99 Final against Bayern Munich, flicking a Teddy Sheringham header into the net beyond Oliver Kahn.
A serious knee injury forced him to retire in 2007. He had accumulated 67 international caps for Norway, scoring 23 times. He played at both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.
He remained at United in a coaching role, managing the reserve team in 2008. He returned to Norway in 2011 to manage former club Molde. He led them to their first ever Tippeligaen titles, going back-to-back in his first two seasons. They also won the 2013 Norwegian Cup before he moved to Cardiff City.
Relegated from the Premier League, he left after just a few months in charge and returned to Molde for three years. In 2018, he was appointed caretaker Manager at Manchester United, taking over from Jose Mourinho. In 2019, having won 14 of his first 19 games, he was given a three-year contract as permanent boss which was extended for a further three-years last Saturday.
THE KIT
The Bees will be wearing our new 2021/22 away shirt for the first time tonight.
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MATCHDAY INFO
Tickets for tonight's game are now off sale
HOW TO FOLLOW
The only way to watch tonight's game is via MUTV.
There will be live social media updates on our channels but there will be no iFollow coverage or Brentford stream.