(Football news) After a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Brighton at Old Trafford last weekend, Manchester United will be desperate to get a win against Brentford. The Bees came from two goals down to draw against Leicester City 2-2 at the King Power Stadium last week and face a run of busy fixtures ahead against the likes of Fulham, Everton and Crystal Palace in the Premier League. 

Thomas Frank’s side have had a busy transfer window so far, having signed  Keane Lewis-Potter, Aaron Hickey, Mikkel Damsgaard, Thomas Strakosha and Ben Mee but they lost Christian Eriksen to Manchester United. Brentford’s ambition this time around would be to improve on last year’s tally of 46 points from 38 matches which saw them finish 13th, 11 points away from the relegation zone. However, Manchester United got the double over them last season, scoring three goals in both the home and away fixtures.

The pressure is firmly on Erik ten Hag and his team after a disappointing defeat against Brighton. Three points is a must against Brentford, especially considering that their next match is against Liverpool at Old Trafford. With Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur winning last weekend, the Red Devils are already on the backfoot and need to get the results right now in order to keep their Champions League hopes alive. The club have been recently linked to Adrian Rabiot while there continues to be speculation about Cristiano Ronaldo’s future.

In team news, Brentford will be without Kristoffer Ajer, Sergi Canos and Ethan Pinnock. Having impressed from the bench against Leicester City, Dasilva could make his first start for Brentford this weekend but Thomas Frank is expected to go largely for the same team. As for Manchester United, Anthony Martial remains sidelined due to a hamstring issue while Brandon Williams and Facundo Pellistri are unavailable due to injuries. A big question mark remains regarding Ronaldo’s involvement in the team as the player has been working on his fitness after missing out on most of the pre-season. Ronaldo could replace McTominay with Eriksen dropping deeper. Our prediction: A narrow win for Manchester United if they follow Ten Hag’s instructions to the letter.

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