(Football news) Brentford was coming off a 2-1 setback to demotion rivals Burnley as the international break began, while Manchester United had come out on top after an exciting FA Cup quarterfinal matchup with Liverpool.
Reguilon received the walking death penalty after just nine minutes of play for Brentford against Burnley, following the lamentation of the referees for permitting Kai Havertz to remain on the field before to his winning goal for Arsenal.
The Spaniard’s dismissal, which will also prevent him from playing this weekend against his former club, meant that Thomas Frank’s team had the upper hand almost instantly. Even with their strongest lineup of ten players, Jacob Bruun Larsen and David Datro Fofana made sure Kristoffer Ajer’s effort would be insignificant.
As the Clarets gave their admittedly thin survival hopes a significant boost at Turf Moor, Brentford slumped to a fifth defeat from five games to remain in 15th-placed peril, just five points clear of recent deduction victims Nottingham Forest in 18th place with nine games left to go.
While the Bees faithful may point towards their unenviable injury list, Frank’s men have been a total shadow of their former Premier League selves and have now fallen to defeat on 17 occasions in the current top-flight season – only Burnley and Sheffield United, with 20 apiece, have fared worse in that regard.
With a ravaged backline, Brentford have conceded multiple goals in each of their last four games and have taken just one point from their last three home contests – albeit against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea – and each of their last seven Gtech Premier League affairs has seen both teams find the back of the net.
In fact, Brentford have registered in 26 of their last 27 home games in the Premier League – the one aberration being November’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal – but upcoming opponents Manchester United have made a habit of successfully fighting fire with fire in 2024.
Erik ten Hag’s men benefitted from Everton profligacy in a 2-0 beating of the Toffees during their last Premier League fixture, keeping them in sixth place in the table with a nine-point gap to make up to Aston Villa – who have played a game more – in the final Champions League spot.
A second straight beating of a Merseyside outfit arrived just eight days later, albeit in much more astonishing fashion, as Amad Diallo’s extra-time strike saw Manchester United edge a seven-goal spectacular with Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals, thereby setting up a semi-final date with Championship hopefuls Coventry City.
Ten Hag is still on probation under Sir Jim Ratcliffe, but his ability to lead Manchester United to Wembley and their six-game winning streak away from home before March’s Manchester derby loss should help him gain favor with the INEOS founder.
Although the Red Devils’ humiliating 4-0 loss to Brentford in the capital last August was a black mark on the Dutchman’s record, the team has since exacted retribution with two victories over the Bees at Old Trafford, most recently a 2-1 victory in October that was salvaged by Scott McTominay’s late-game heroics.
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