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Manchester United will be hoping to snap a five-match winless run on Saturday when they take on Brentford at Old Trafford.
The home team has only eight points from seven Premier League games and is fourteenth, three places below Brentford. The Bees aren’t necessarily in top form either with 10 points, but they completed a three-match winless run with a 5-3 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers before the international break.
Here’s what you need to know before you tune in.
How to watch and odds
- Date: Saturday October 19 | Time: 10am ET
- Location: Old Trafford – Stretford, England
- Live stream: Peacock
- Chances: Manchester United 150; Sign +330; Brentford +360
Storylines
Manchester United may have theoretically started the season with a clean slate, but the uninspiring feeling that lingered with them last season has returned in full force this season. They are winless in their last five games in all competitions, failing to score a goal in three of those games and conceding seven times along the way. To make matters worse, captain Bruno Fernandes earned the unique distinction of being sent off in back-to-back matches, even though they played in different competitions and one was eventually withdrawn. The past few weeks, combined with last season’s performances, have led to a new set of questions about the direction United are heading, questions bigger than those about manager Erik ten Hag.
While it seems clear that the current project is not working, United will continue on this path for at least another week. There is of course the potential that /ten Hag’s side can turn things around and perhaps have a favorable match against Brentford. United can also point to the fact that they will inevitably regress to the mean in terms of goalscoring at some point; they have only scored five goals in the league this season, but have 11.11 expected goals. The other side of that is that the same could be true for the defensive side – although they have conceded eight goals, their expected goals against stands at 11.54.
It shows that there is still a lot of work to be done to polish the entire tactical operation, especially if United feel tied to Ten Hag and the players they have signed for him in the meantime. However, combined with last season’s form, it is also a sign that there are no quick fixes for this team and that another unimpressive season may be in store.
Setups
Manchester United:
Brentford:
Prediction
Manchester United may be the favourites, but their somewhat porous defense means there could be a setback on Saturday. Brentford’s 13 goals this season suggest they could cause problems at Old Trafford, and the Red Devils’ failure to score would hamper their ability to move out of danger. Choose: Manchester United 0, Brentford 2