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Manchester United are aiming to get back to winning ways as they head to Brentford on Wednesday night, with their Champions League hopes for next season having been severely hampered by a poor run of form which has yielded just one league win from their last four matches. It leaves Ralf Rangnick’s team five points behind West Ham in fourth, with Arsenal and Tottenham also above the Red Devils in the table.
Brentford, meanwhile, have lost four of their own last five games to drop down to 14th. The fine start to the season they managed has certainly faded into the distance, but injuries have hit their smaller squad hard and Thomas Frank and the rest of those at the club would no doubt simply regard survival this season as a massive achievement.
The Bees can go as high as 10th if they win tonight and Leicester lose to Tottenham – a fixture which will also affect how high United might be able to climb with a win of their own. Follow all the live updates and match action as Brentford host Manchester United below:
Brentford vs Man Utd: Paul Pogba can put himself in shop window as Manchester United contract winds down, says Ralf Rangnick
Ralf Rangnick has no concerns about selecting Paul Pogba during the final months of his Manchester United contract, even if the midfielder’s only motivation to play well is to earn a deal at another club.
Pogba has entered the final six month of his current Old Trafford terms, with little progress made in discussions over a renewal and a departure on a free transfer in the summer considered likely.
The 28-year-old is yet to make an appearance under interim manager Rangnick after suffering a thigh injury while on international duty in November, though returned to full training on Monday.
Michael Jones19 January 2022 19:16
Brentford vs Man Utd: Head-to-head
This is the first meeting between the teams since Manchester United won a League Cup second-round tie at Old Trafford in September 1975.
Man United’s 4-1 home win in 1946 is the most recent league encounter between the two clubs and Brentford’s 2-0 home triumph in the FA Cup fifth round on 12th February 1938 is their last victory versus United.
Michael Jones19 January 2022 19:12
Brentford vs Man Utd: Team changes
Thomas Frank makes four changes to the Brentford team that lost to Liverpool at the weekend. Jonas Lossl makes his Premier League debut in goal for the Bees with Masd Bech, Mathias Jensen and Sergi Canos all returning to the starting XI. Rico Henry, Kristoffer Ajer, Shandon Baptiste and Alvaro Fernandez all drop to the bench.
Cristiano Ronaldo is back for Manchester United who make just two changes. Edinson Cavani is dropped from the squad to accommodate Ronaldo with Scott McTominay preferred to Nemanja Matic who starts on the bench.
Michael Jones19 January 2022 19:09
Brentford vs Man Utd: Line-ups
Brentford XI: Loosl, Pinnock, Jansson, Bech, Roerslev, Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt, Canos, Mbeunmo, Toney
Man Utd XI: De Gea, Dalot, Lindelof, Varane, Telles, Fred, McTominay, Greenwood, Fernandes, Elanga, Ronaldo
Michael Jones19 January 2022 19:00
Brentford vs Man Utd: Premier League could bring in new Covid postponement rules
New rules on Covid-19 postponements in the Premier League could be in place for the first round of games in February.
Clubs are expected to meet next week, when the league is effectively on its winter break, to discuss changes to the criteria for calling a game off.
The league has begun consulting with clubs over this issue and the new regulations could apply when the English top flight resumes on 8th February.
Michael Jones19 January 2022 18:54
Leicester vs Tottenham: Line-ups
Elsewhere in the Premier League tonight, Leicester City are hosting Tottenham in what is the Foxes first Premier League game od 2022.
Kasper Schmeichel, Caglar Soyuncu, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Luke Thomas and Patson Daka all come back into the starting XI, with James Justin returning to the bench for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury almost a year ago.
Tottenhem make three changes from the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea. Hugo Lloris replaces Pierluigi Gollini in goal, Sergio Reguilon is in for Matt Doherty and Oliver Skipp comes in for Giovani Lo Celso.
Leicester XI: Schmeichel, Albrighton, Choudhury, Vestergaard, Soyuncu, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall, Thomas, Maddison, Lookman, Daka.
Tottenham XI: Lloris, Royal, Tanganga, Sanchez, Davies, Reguilon, Skipp, Winks, Hojbjerg, Moura, Kane.
Michael Jones19 January 2022 18:50
Brentford vs Man Utd: Recent results
Four defeats in their last five Premier League fixtures have seen Brentford slip down to 14th in the table and manager Thomas Frank will want to get his team back to winning ways.
Last time out the Bees displayed a decent defensive performance against Liverpool until Fabinho opened the scoring just before half-time. Brentford chased the game in the second 45 minutes and opened themselves up to counterattacks. Liverpool responded and won the game 3-0.
There were positives for Thomas Frank’s side though and they will feel that Manchester United don’t hold the same attacking threat as the Reds, if they can defend well again tonight, they may take something out of the game.
After a positive start under interim boss Ralf Rangnick, Manchester United have only won one of their last four league games. Last time out they surrendered a two-goal lead to Aston Villa after an inspired performance from Philippe Coutinho on his return to the Premier League.
Bruno Fernandes scored both goals in the 2-2 draw so he is back in form and with the reinforcements of Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo United may pick up a much needed three points this evening.
They’ll need them to close the gap on the top four. West Ham (4th) are currently five points ahead of the Red Devils with Arsenal (5th) and Tottenham (6th) also vying for the Champions League places.
Michael Jones19 January 2022 18:46
Brentford vs Man Utd: Aaron Wan-Bissaka set to miss two more Manchester United games
The defender missed Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa and United interim boss Ralf Rangnick revealed he was also ruled out of Wednesday’s match at Brentford and would likely be unavailable for the home clash with West Ham three days later. Full story:
Michael Jones19 January 2022 18:43
Brentford vs Man Utd: Wan-Bissaka out until February
Ralf Rangnick believes Aaron Wan-Bissaka is set to miss the Premier League matches with Brentford and West Ham United. The right-back is still absent through illness that saw him miss the 2-2 against Aston Villa at the weekend.
When asked if Wan-Bissaka might be available to play tonight Rangnick said:
No, not yet. He’s still ill, I’m afraid. He will not be available for the game tomorrow and also probably not available for the West Ham game. Hopefully, after the international break, he will be back for training.”
Michael Jones19 January 2022 18:40
Brentford vs Man Utd: Thomas Frank on facing Man Utd
Brentford manager Thomas Frank says that Manchester United have an ‘unbelievable team’ and even though they have not yet hit the heights interim boss Ralf Rangnick would like in terms of performance, the Red Devils are still a formidable team to come up against. Frank said:
Manchester United have done fine under Ralf Rangnick. We know his philosophy from his time with Red Bull Leipzig. He is trying to implement it with them and make them a more aggressive team. I don’t think they have hit their highest level when it comes to that to be fair.
“They are one of the biggest clubs in the world with unbelievable players. They could have [Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Edinson] Cavani, two of the best strikers in the world, [Bruno] Fernandes, who has been one of the best offensive players in the Premier League over the last 18 months, [Marcus] Rashford, [Mason] Greenwood, and [Jaden] Sancho, who are three young promising players for England.
“I could name the whole team. They then have [Harry] Maguire and [Raphael] Varane, who, when he was in La Liga, was one of the best centre-backs. It is an unbelievable team we are going to face”
Michael Jones19 January 2022 18:36
