09:09 PM
49 mins – Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
Damsgaard holds a charging McTominay back and picks up a booking for breaking down the attack illegally.
09:09 PM
48 mins – Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
Brentford put a move together after United lose the ball in midfield. Damsgaard sends a cross in from the right but it’s just too much for Toney and it goes out for a goal kick.
Soon after De Gea has a kick that is chased down but avoids embarrassment, the ball missing the goal. A bit of a let-off for the keeper, there.
09:07 PM
47 mins – Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
The first two minutes of the second half has been very much what we saw in the first half…
09:05 PM
KICK OFF: Second half
Can Brentford get something from this? A lot of improvement is needed for that.
08:50 PM
HALF TIME: Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
United deserving of their lead. Not a great ton of chances for them but Brentford have offered very little at best.
08:47 PM
45 mins – Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
Rashford makes a darting run on the end of a ball from Antony, he stays left and does Pinnock to create a shooting chance. It’s from tight in on the left and is goalwards but Raya saves down low and well.
United have been decent, but Brentford have been poor in this half. They get their first shot after De Gea loses the ball. A cross comes in from Jensen and Toney gets his head on it about 12 yards out but it loops over.
08:44 PM
42 mins – Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
A second United booking as McTominay is booked for a late sliding challenge on Jensen. That one is fair enough. A bit of rain about in Manchester (surprise!) so the surface is quick slick and players have to be careful with challenges like that at the best of times.
08:42 PM
40 mins – Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
Rashford has a low shot from the right corner of the box, a very difficult angle, and it is deflected behind for an eighth home corner, which results in Antony having another shot, this time from straight inside the box and this time it is blocked.
08:42 PM
39 mins – Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
Antony nearly ends a slick move for United… but his trademark curler is wide of the far post, again… he hasn’t got that one quite dialled in yet.
08:40 PM
36 mins – Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
Luke Shaw, who was on a yellow card, is taken off and is replaced by Tyrell Malacia. Doubt it’d have been because he was booked so maybe he picked up a knock somewhere.
08:36 PM
34 mins – Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
The game has gone a bit flat now, United shifting the ball from side to side in their own half…
08:35 PM
32 mins – Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
77 per cent possession and seven attempts for United compared to 23 per cent and none from Brentford. Fairly representative of the flow of the game, that.
08:33 PM
28 mins – Man Utd 1 Brentford 0
It’s not exactly like United have been brilliant, but probably a roughly deserved 1-0 lead. Brentford struggling to get into the game. Thomas Frank said he didn’t want to concede in the first 20 minutes and he avoided that, but his team need to find something here.
08:29 PM
GOAAAL! Manchester United 1 Brentford 0
Rashford puts United ahead!
United win a corner, another one, the ball is cleared before Martinez lofts the ball into Sabitzer who heads it down to Rashford six yards out who half-volleys into the roof of the net to score his first in four games.
08:26 PM
23 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
Dalot shifts the ball to Antony just in the right corner of the box, he shifts the ball to his left foot and curls one towards the goal, but it’s just wide past the outstretched arm of Raya.
Shaw then picks up a booking for a late challenge on Ivan Toney. Fair? Probably.
08:23 PM
21 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
First real chance of the game. Antony cuts the ball back to McTominay lurking on the edge of the box. He strikes through it with his right boot but he can’t just keep it down enough as it whizzes just over the bar. Should have done better? Probably.
08:21 PM
19 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
United win a free-kick 25 yards out on the left side of the box. Sabitzer hits it well with his right foot but it is deflected for yet another home corner. Jansson clears but United come again… still searching for that first real chance despite dominating territory and possession early on.
08:19 PM
17 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
Brentford have had a couple of attempted counter attacks but some sloppy passing has meant they have not amounted to anything. Mbuemo being the latest to misplace a pass.
08:17 PM
15 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
United shifting the ball quite well in the middle of the park but struggling to find space in the final third. Quite keen and successful at being first to the loose ball, too.
08:15 PM
13 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
Toney and Mbuemo link on the left and it nearly leads to a chance for the latter in the penalty box… but not quite.
08:14 PM
11 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
Four corners for the home side already. Not really a chance to show for it. It took a long time for them to register a shot on target against Newcastle but, fair to say, this has been a far better performance than that almost already. Newcastle are already 1-0 up at West Ham, so a win feels pretty important to United’s top-four hopes.
08:11 PM
9 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
United shifting the ball between both flanks so far. Not exactly “camped” in the opposition half as it were, but that’s where most of the action has been. Sancho sends in a cross from the left trying to find Dalot, but it is cleared. United come again and Henry chests it back behind for a corner when he probably didn’t need to, with no United player within 10 yards.
08:09 PM
7 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
A first bit of action in the United half for Brentford, but David De Gea claims a cross quite easily and starts another United attack.
08:06 PM
5 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
Brentford not getting much of a kick at the moment. Raya claims a loose ball, though, to get some relief.
08:05 PM
4 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
Martinez sends in a ball to Rashford and Pinnock has to head it behind for a second United corner.
08:04 PM
3 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
Shaw bursts forward with the ball and has a crack from 25-yards out… but slip as he shoots and the ball balloons harmlessly up and Brentford clear their lines.
08:03 PM
2 mins – Man Utd 0 Brentford 0
United get an early corner and Luke Shaw takes on the right side with his left foot. Inswinger, Varane in the box but Pinnock clears.
08:02 PM
Kick off! Man Utd get the game under way
On they go…
08:00 PM
A reminder of the line-ups
08:00 PM
Nearly time for kick-off
Brentford can get something from this, I reckon. But it’s a big ask, United have been in fine form at home.
07:50 PM
Who can forget United’s last game against Brentford?
4-0 down at half-time, and the small mercy is that it ended that way after 90 minutes.
07:44 PM
Thomas Frank speaks before the game
We trust ourselves and believe that we can do something. I think the classic one is probably should avoid them scoring in the first 20 minutes and then at all after that. We need to be brave when we have the ball and defend unbelievably well… and then we just need to follow the gameplan.
07:39 PM
Erik ten Hag speaks before the game
Why has he left Weghorst out?
Creativity… and Jadon has made good progress since he came back. He can play the final pass, he can have an action one on one, he can have movement behind, he can score a goal, that’s why.
Was he tempted to make more changes after the 2-0 loss away to Newcastle?
It can be the reflex when you play one bad game to swap a lot but I don’t think it’s the right moment. If it were structural it would be different but I think until now we play a great league, we are in four competitions so we have done really well. It’s not a need to change a lot because we are doing well but I think we have to reflect on Sunday and that was not us. We fell back into bad habits and we have to change that, definitely
A response?
Yeah. We have to, it can’t be the way we were acting on Sunday – losing duels, losing runnings. We have to be composed, definitely, we need movement but also you need full discipline in defending and in offensive challenges and duels to break a really compact opponent we have tonight.
07:19 PM
The form, last six games in all competitions
Manchester United
L 2-0 away to Newcastle
W 3-1 at home to Fulham (FA Cup)
W 1-0 away to Real Betis (Europa League)
D 0-0 at home to Southampton
W 4-1 at home to Real Betis
L 7-0 away to Liverpool
Brentford
D 3-3 away to Brighton
D 1-1 at home to Leicester
W 2-0 away to Southampton
L 1-0 away to Everton
W 3-2 at home to Fulham
D 1-1 at home to Crystal Palace
League games unless otherwise stated.
07:07 PM
Team news: Weghorst dropped from starting line-up
Manchester United
Starting XI: De Gea, Shaw, Martinez, Varane, Dalot, McTominay, Antony, Sabitzer, Fernandes, Sancho, Rashford
Substitutes: Butland, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia, Wan-Bissaka, Fred, Pellistri, Weghost, Martial
Brentford
Starting XI: Raya, Roerslev, Jansson, Pinnock, Mee, Henry, Norgaard, Jensen, Damsgaard, Mbuemo, Tony
Substitutes: Strakosha, Hickey, Schade, Dasilva, Wissa, Zanka, Ghoddos, Baptiste, Stevens
06:51 PM
Current top half of the table
03:50 PM
Good evening
Welcome to our coverage for one of tonight’s two Premier League games, Manchester United against Brentford at Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag’s men have come an awful long way since that 4-0 drubbing last August, which came after a home defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion on the opening day of the season.
However, the past couple of months show that there is still a way to go. Yes, they are a team who won their first trophy for six years with the League Cup, but performances have tailed off a bit and there have also been some poor showings and results away from home.
Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United at St James’ Park was a good example of that. Manchester United were second best in almost all areas and a two-goal defeat was no less than Newcastle deserved as they took a big step towards their first top-four finish for two decades.
It also showed how much they have missed a couple of key players in midfield, notably the banned Casemiro and the injured Christian Eriksen. Although they are well placed in the Europa League and are indeed favourites to win that competition, they need to ensure their league form does not tail off, having slipped out of the Champions League places.
They have two games in hand on Tottenham, true, but the cushion they had a couple of months ago has now disappeared. This evening would be a good time to get things going again after two losses and one draw in their last three games.
Brentford, meanwhile, are in decent form and have been for a while. In fact, a league table of the last 10 games has Thomas Frank’s side in fifth with 17 points – two ahead of Manchester United and with a handy goal difference of plus seven. That run of form has been sustained by good results away from home as well as at home, so you certainly cannot rule out them going back to West London with something this evening.
The game kicks off at 8pm BST and we will be here for all of the team news, build-up and live coverage from Old Trafford.
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