L!VESTREAM: Wa¥ch Man United vs Brentford|Prem!er league|Engl!sh commentary

 L!VESTREAM: Wa¥ch Man United vs Brentford|Prem!er league|Engl!sh commentary 

Searching for their third Premier League win in four matches, Manchester United travel to the Gtech Community Stadium to face Brentford on Saturday lunchtime.

Both teams are currently occupying a place in the bottom half of the table, with the Red Devils in 11th position with seven point and the Bees three points further back in 17th spot after five games.

Match preview

Following a significant summer of change at Brentford, new head coach Keith Andrews has collected only four points from his opening six Premier League games in charge and suffered his third top-flight defeat at the hands of West London rivals Fulham last weekend.

Mikkel Damsgaard marked his return to the starting lineup with a first-half opener, but the Cottagers turned the contest on its head to claim a 3-1 victory on home soil, a result which leaves the Bees hovering just one point above the relegation zone.

Brentford have already conceded 10 goals after five Premier League games this term, their most at this stage of a league campaign since 2003-04 in the third division (also 10), while only newly-promoted Burnley (95) have faced more shots than the Bees (70) so far this season.

Andrews’s side have also struggled to make the most of winning positions, as they have dropped eight points after taking the lead in PL games so far this term, scoring the first goal in four matches but winning only one (D1 L2); only Newcastle in 1999-00 (11) and Fulham in 2007-08 (nine) have ever dropped more points when leading in the first five games of a season.

Challenging fixtures against Man City, Liverpool and Newcastle are on the horizon for Brentford, but they will welcome Saturday’s encounter with Man United as they have won two of their last three Premier League home games against the Red Devils (D1), while they have only lost one of their last six league matches at the Gtech (W3 D2).

Under-fire Man United head coach Ruben Amorim was able to breathe a sigh of relief last weekend after his Red Devils outfit capitalised on Robert Sanchez's fifth-minute dismissal to secure a priceless 2-1 win over Chelsea in torrential rain at Old Trafford.

Victory by any means necessary was “needed” for Amorim after watching his Man United side endure their poorest start to a PL campaign after four matches (four points) since 1992-93. Negativity still lingers on the red side of Manchester, but the 20-time champions are now level on points with rivals Man City and sit above the likes of Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa who all qualified for Europe last season.

After five Premier League games this term, Man United have had the most shots (81) - Saturday’s opponents Brentford have had the fewest (41) - while the Red Devils are averaging 16.2 shots per match which is greater than the 13.9 average under Amorim last season. Their xG per game has also increased from 1.33 to 2.03.

While scoring goals against Brentford has not been an issue for Man United in recent years, as they have made the net ripple in 11 of their last 13 meetings across all competitions, the Red Devils head to the Gtech winless in their last seven away games in the top flight (D2 L5); they last endured a longer run without an away victory between March and October 2019 (eight).

Man United, who have lost 15 of their last 24 visits to London, suffered a 4-3 defeat in their last trip to Brentford in May and Amorim’s side are in danger of losing back-to-back meeting with the Bees for only the third time, after previously losing successive games in the second tier in December 1934 and in the top division in February 1937.

Brentford Premier League form:

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Brentford form (all competitions):

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Manchester United Premier League form:

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Manchester United form (all competitions):

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Brentford duo Gustavo Nunes and Paris Maghoma have both made progress in their recovery from hamstring injuries and will be assessed ahead of kickoff, but it remains to be seen whether they will be included in the matchday squad if fit.

Aware that Amorim’s Man United will persist with a three-at-the-back system, Andrews will weigh up whether to stick with a 3-5-2 formation or switch to a back four this weekend.

Jordan Henderson has impressed in recent weeks and could link arms in centre-midfield with highly-rated 21-year-old Yehor Yarmolyuk, while Kevin Schade scored a brace in Brentford’s 4-3 home win over Man United last season and he is poised to retain his starting spot in attack next to Igor Thiago.

As for the Red Devils, Casemiro will serve a one-match suspension after he was sent off in last weekend’s win over Chelsea, while Lisandro Martinez is still recovering from a long-term knee injury that has kept him sidelined since February.

Diogo Dalot will be assessed ahead of kickoff after missing the last two games with a muscle problem, and if he is not fit to return, either Noussair Mazraoui or Amad Diallo is set to start at right wing-back.

Amorim will consider handing new goalkeeper Senne Lammens his Premier League debut, but he may prefer to stick with Altay Bayindir between the sticks, while Leny Yoro will be hoping to earn a recall at centre-back at the expense of Harry Maguire.

In the absence of Casemiro, Manuel Ugarte is the most likely candidate to partner captain Bruno Fernandes in centre-midfield, while Matheus Cunha is pushing to start in the final third with Benjamin Sesko and Bryan Mbeumo, who is set to face his former club for the first time since completing his £71m transfer to Old Trafford in the summer.

Brentford possible starting lineup:

Kelleher; Van den Berg, Collins, Pinnock; Kayode, Henderson, Yarmoliuk, Lewis-Potter; Damsgaard; Schade, Thiago

Manchester United possible starting lineup:

Bayindir; Yoro, De Ligt, Shaw; Mazraoui, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dorgu; Mbeumo, Cunha; Sesko