Brentford vs Manchester United. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats and more
Brentford will host Manchester United in the English Premier League second-tour match at the Gtech Community Stadium. The fixture will take place on August 13, beginning at 22:00 IST.
The EPL football have started last week and immediately brought some unexpected results, co-authored by the teams who are set to play each other in the second round. Manchester United travel to the Greater London suburb of Brentford, where they will face the team of the eponymous name. A year or two ago, there would have been little doubt over the outcome of this clash, given their different status and record. However, the Premier League is considered the strongest club football championship, where overtly weak opponents are seldom seen. For now, the chances seem even, considering the scenarios of the previous tour it is difficult to predict the winner of the upcoming encounter. All the more reason to watch the encounter at the Community Stadium.
Parimatchnews will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.
Brentford News & Current Form:
Brentford, founded in 1889, once played in the English First Division, but that was in the middle of the last century and since then the team has played mainly in the lower leagues. The arrival of Matthew Benham and Co. marked a new milestone in the club’s history. Thanks to his long-term planning Bees have gradually reached the Championship, and then improving year by year they made it to the playoffs and earned the promotion to the Premier League. Many thought they would be relegated right in the next season, but the team’s brave and eye-catching playstyle paired with a wise transfer campaign were instrumental in securing 13th place at the end of the 21/22 campaign. An excellent result for a modest newcomer.
The winter transfer of Christian Eriksen certainly helped the Red & Whites improve their position. His compatriot, head coach Thomas Frank, gave the midfielder a chance – and Christian has justified the expectations. Despite being out of action for a lengthy period, the skilled Dane quickly adapted to the team. In 10 of the last 12 rounds of the English Championship, he played from start to finish.
In that period, the Bees suffered only two defeats – just against Manchester United (0-3) and Leeds Utd (1-2). They also drew with Tottenham (0-0). The rest of the meetings saw victories, including over a powerful Chelsea (4-1), West Ham (2-0) and Frank Lampard’s Everton (3-2). These results are awe-inspiring for a team of such calibre and they all have been achieved thanks to the impact of Eriksen.
The experienced and skilful midfielder brought tremendous benefits on several fronts. Firstly, he excellently developed attacks with pinpoint passes. Secondly, he was raising the morale of his teammates by his presence on the pitch. However, on the threshold of the new season, Eriksen moved to Manchester United.
But even without him, the Bees did in the first leg what MU failed to do – they made a comeback. Thomas Frank’s side conceded two inconsequential goals from Leicester, putting them in trouble. But the Brentford players were not embarrassed, continued to keep their line and were rewarded for their efforts. Goals from Ivan Toney and Josh Dasilva brought the Bees a 2-2 draw, a good result for an away match.
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Now, the team have managed to strengthen almost every area. An experienced Albanian goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha has joined from Lazio, the Scottish international Aaron Hickey from Bologna and Ben Mee from Burnley will play in the defensive line. Left midfielder Keane Lewis-Potter has been acquired from Hull City.
And there was another event in the life of Brentford this week which puts the team’s fans in a optimistic mood. The Bees signed one of Denmark’s most valuable players – Mikkel Damsgaard from Sampdoria, who can play a variety of attacking roles. The 22-year-old made a name for himself at UEFA EURO 2020 but spent most of last season in the sickbay feauturing only in 11 games.
Manchester United News & Current Form:
With every new season on the horizon, Manchester United fans hope that now the Red Devils will finally return to the top of English football. But each time, the Mancunians fail miserably – sooner or later.
This time, Manchester United opted not to postpone the case on the back burner, lowering the expectations for their performance this season. Erik Ten Hag’s side started with a 1-2 home defeat at the hands of Brighton.
And the defeat was quite logical, no matter what the new head coach of the Red Devils said after the match. Indeed, Manchester United pulled themselves together after the break, played much better and could have even made a comeback. But firstly, a very dubious refereeing literally saved Manchester United from two red cards and a penalty.
Somehow McTominay remained on the pitch after this incident
Secondly, there’s no getting away from the fact that the Mancunians botched the first half, just as well as Ten Hag’s initial game plan with the unexpected decision to use Christian Eriksen as a ‘false nine’ failed.
In general, such a decision has clarified the situation with Cristiano Ronaldo – Ten Hag is so unsympathetic to the Portuguese that he is trying to substitute him with a player who has no qualities at all to play in that position. It might be a good thing that the ambitious specialist is trying so desperately to change the team’s style of play, but players don’t understand what they’re supposed to be doing at all.
Judging from the game, the Mancunians appear to have some weak links in defence and midfield. In a recent interview, the Red Devils’ legendary midfielder Paul Scholes noted the poor quality of Fred and Scott McTominay. The later one in general made an impression of a lacklustre player, it seemed that when he possessed the ball, Brighton could relax. And the Brazilian has long exhibited questionable football, with useful actions rarely pleasing. The club needs a quality CDM.
And the negligent play of the defenders really ticks fans off, with the new signing, Lisandro Martinez, being a bit of a shock. It seems that the player simply lacks the height to play as a central defender (1.75 m). And he was literally lucky not to receive a second yellow card after he ran straight into Danny Welbeck. Paired with Harry Maguire, it all looks very depressing. Probably the Argentine still needs time to find himself in England.
The question is whether the Dutchman will be consistent in his decisions, shall he be persistent in his experiments? Or will he still show weakness and release Crish to increase his chances of winning and avoid criticism? The situation looks like a stalemate. There isn’t, and likely won’t be, a quality nominal striker until the fading star striker leaves the club. Given the reality that no club has agreed to buy CR7, it may be mandatory to use him in the squad for at least another year. This creates a lot of problems regarding the long-term installing of the team’s playing style and tactic.
Be that as it may, the 37-year-old Cristiano has a chance to prove his worth and at the same time make the Red Devils happy. The love of many fans will not be regained, but there is an opportunity for him to please the Red Devils with results. Despite everything, the forward scored 18 goals in 30 appearances in the last EPL campaign.
Brentford form guide: L-D-L-W-W-D
Manchester United form guide: W-W-D-L-D-L
Brentford vs Manchester United Head-To-Head Record:
| Brentford | Draw | Manchester United |
| 5 | 0 | 8 |
Last matches:
- 28.07.2021, Manchester United v Brentford – 2:2;
- 19.01.2022, Brentford v Manchester United – 1:3;
- 02.05.2022, Manchester United v Brentford – 3:0.
Brentford vs Manchester United Predicted XI:
Brentford possible starting lineup: Raya; Hickey, Jansson, Mee, Henry; Janelt, Norgaard, Dasilva; Mbuemo, Toney, Wissa.
Manchester United possible starting lineup: De Gea; Dalot, Maguire, L Martinez, Shaw; Eriksen, Fred, Fernandes; Sancho, Ronaldo, Rashford.
Statistical preview of the match:
- Manchester United have conceded in 11 of the last 12 Premier League away games.
- Manchester United have not won in each of their last 6 Premier League away games.
- Manchester United have scored less than 1.5 goals in 6 of the last 7 Premier League away games.
- Brentford have scored less than 2.5 goals in 15 of the last 16 Premier League home games.
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in Brentford’s last 5 games
- The last three head-to-head meetings have seen a match total over 2.5.
- Brentford have conceded at least 2 goals in their last 3 Premier League matches.
What has been said before the match:
Thomas Frank, the Brentford gaffer:
“In general, I don’t believe too much that there is a perfect situation to play them in, or a bad situation to play them in. They have a new manager, a brilliant manager. He’s done fantastic in his earlier jobs, so they are very interested in doing everything they can to make the manager a success, together with the players.”
“They lost the first game. If you lose the first game, the most common response for a team that want to really improve and do well is to work even harder and do even better. It’s going to be extremely difficult. There is no doubt that Man United are the favourites – they can’t afford to not win against us tomorrow – but we’ll be doing everything we can and I believe we have a good chance. I believe it’s going to be a fantastic game in many ways.
“Do I believe we can do something? Yes. If we are brave and aggressive, pressing high, we will create chances against them, but we also have to be aware of their quality. We need to remember that any manager would be happy with [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Bruno] Fernandes, Eriksen, [Marcus] Rashford, and [Jadon] Sancho.”
Erik Ten Hag, the Man Utd gaffer:
“What I always do after every game, I analyse the game and dwell on what went wrong and where we can improve, where we have to improve, how we have to train and of course we tell and show the players where we have to improve to give them the solutions.”
“We learned a lot but it’s normal when you start a season, every season in that part is the same. The team get together, you have to get a way of playing, especially when you are new, what we are. You have a new start, you make mistakes. Football is a game of mistakes, so we know we have to improve in many factors, [that’s] clear.”
Brentford vs Manchester United Prediction:
This game will see maximum tension in all areas of the pitch – the hosts are in good shape mentally and physically, while the visitors have a huge desire to get their first tournament points.
It is still unclear how much of the Bees’ creative force in the form of Eriksen is gone, but they clearly have the quality to seriously compete with the current MU. The noisy support from the home stands will play to their advantage.
Despite the Red Devils’ lacklustre performance last game, the team is full of very talented players capable of producing a win through their individual actions. Therefore, the Mancunians should definitely not be written off, the recent match in May being proof of that. Back then, Manchester United had big problems in contrast to Brentford as well, but that didn’t stop them from smashing the Bees. Something similar could happen in this encounter.
So here it is better to be cautious. Looking at the statistical trends and recent matches, as well as the Reds’ defensive woes, we can expect both teams to be able to score.
Parimatch News staff prediction:
We say: Both teams to score – Yes.
