The State of Play
Thomas Frank and Brentford will be glad at the fact Nottingham Forest recently received a four-point deduction and there are suggestions that Everton will receive another deduction of their own. However, the Bees really could do with picking up some form and points of their own with their 2-1 defeat to struggling Burnley a couple of weeks ago meaning that they have collected just one point in their last six matches.
Manchester United are not a good team. They are sixth and in contention for UEFA Champions League qualification, as well as in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and yet the Red Devils have managed to win just six matches by more than solitary goal in their 50 matches across all competitions so far this season. They did most recently manage a thrilling 4-3 victory over Liverpool after extra-time before the March international break.
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Team News
Brentford have been dealing with serious availability issues throughout the campaign and they still have some key injury concerns with the likes of Ben Mee, Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry remaining unavailable but Bryan Mbeumo is now back for the Bees.
Manchester United have also suffered from several injuries this season. Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils will be missing Amad Diallo through suspension, whilst the likes of Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw remain out injured.
Expected Line-ups
Brentford: Flekken; Jorgensen, Ajer, Collins; Roerslev, Onyeka, Jensen, Janelt, Lewis-Potter; Toney, Wissa
Manchester United: Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Maguire, Dalot; Casemiro, Mainoo; Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho; Rashford
What they Said
Thomas Frank remained positive and upbeat after Brentford’s loss to Burnley a couple of weeks ago, saying that he is still ‘very proud’ of his side.
Erik ten Hag was keen to push his own positive attitude on the back of their victory over Liverpool, saying his side ‘can beat anyone’ in the aftermath of that win.
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at the Gtech Community Stadium at 20:00 on Saturday March 30th and will be televised live on Sky Sports in the UK. It will also be able to be streamed live via the Sky Go app in the UK.
Prediction
Under the lights at the Gtech does appear likely to be a good setting for a match in which there is an upset with Brentford edging past Manchester United. The likelihood is, though, regardless of the match, a low-scoring encounter between a team that are in terrible form and a relegation battle against a side that have managed to score just 39 goals in 28 matches so far this season – only five teams have scored fewer than that.
