The Red Devils are currently placed seventh in the points table with 32 points, five behind fourth-placed West Ham United.
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Manchester United play away to Brentford on Wednesday aiming to boost their Premier League top-four hopes. The Red Devils are currently placed seventh in the points table with 32 points, five behind fourth-placed West Ham United. Meanwhile Brentford occupy 14th position, 10 points clear of the relegation zone. Manchester United played out an entertaining 2-2 draw against Aston Villa in their last match while Brentford were thrashed 3-0 by Liverpool. The big news for United fans would be the return of Cristiano Ronaldo from a hip injury and the Portuguese legend is expected to make it to the starting eleven.
Coming soon: Brentford (A) ?️#MUFC | #BREMUN
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 17, 2022
Manchester United took a 2-0 lead at Villa Park on Saturday, courtesy of a brace from Bruno Fernandes before conceding two late goals to share the points against Steven Gerrard’s side. It was a very good performance from Ralf Rangnick’s side as they managed to create a decent number of chances. However, the defense still looks unsettled as they failed to hold on to the pressure from Villa.
Philippe Coutinho, who joined Villa from Barcelona in the mid-week, came off the bench to score the 81st minute equalizer and was also involved in the first goal Villa netted through Jacob Ramsey.
Although the performances haven’t been convincing, Rangnick’s side has managed to get the results. The Red Devils have picked up 17 points from their last 8 league games. They have only won four of their 10 league games this season, but they are unbeaten on their travels in England’s top flight since the 4-1 loss at Watford on November 20, which led to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s departure as head coach.
On the other hand, Brentford have won five, drawn nine and lost 10 of their 21 league games and collected 23 points, which has left them in the 14th position, 10 points clear of 18th placed Norwich City. The Bees have won just one of their last five league matches, conceding seven times in the last two games.
Meanwhile four of Brentford’s six league wins came at the Brentford Community Stadium and Thomas Franck’s side would be aiming to get their seventh win of the campaign in front of the home fans. The Bees have shown that they can compete at this level as they have registered upset victories against Arsenal, West Ham and Aston Villa this season.
Manchester United will be without Paul Pogba due to injury while Eric Bailly is unavailable because of his involvement in Africa Cup of nations. Meanwhile Ronaldo is available and is expected to be in the playing XI.
Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay are both available following one-game suspensions while central defender Harry Maaguire is likely to return to the starting XI.
As for Brentford, Julian Jeanvier, David Raya, Charlie Goode and Josh Dasilva will be missing due to injuries while Frank Onyeka is away at Africa Cup of Nations. Ivan Toney could join Bryan Mbeumo in the forward line.
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