United will play Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday night, which is their first Premier League game back. United has won both of their Premier League games away at Brentford since they were promoted, so they have a good record.
There have been a lot of rumors in the media over the international break that a new manager is being lined up to replace Erik ten Hag. This will put pressure on him to get the best out of his United team. But that sounds like hearsay, which is common in the media.
Brentford hasn’t had a great Premier League season. They are currently in 15th place with 26 points, five points ahead of the drop zone, going into this weekend’s games. United is in sixth place with 47 points, nine points behind Villa in fourth place but with a game in hand over them.
Andre Onana’s first season at United has been different.
In all tournaments, he has given up 60 goals. Of those, 39 were in the Premier League, 15 were in the UEFA Champions League, and three were in each of the Carabao Cup and the Emirates FA Cup. In that area, things need to get better.
However, United’s defense has had a huge injury problem this season, and there have been more than 20 different combinations of players in the back four. This means that the better players don’t get to play together very often. Once that is fixed, the number of goals he gives up might go down.
United doesn’t really have much to offer Onana. Altay Bayindir has only played once this season, and he is currently out with an illness. This could change before this game, though. But Onana is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League right now.
Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Maguire, and Dalot are the defenders.
With less time left in the season, United’s back four will start to get better. Lisandro Martinez went back to training before the international break, at least with Argentina. He will have been back at United training by the end of the week.
He might not be ready for this game yet, but United does have other choices. Raphael Varane will play in the middle of the defense to begin with, and if he passes a fitness test, he could play with Harry Maguire. What if he doesn’t? If both are healthy, he could play with Victor Lindelof or even Jonny Evans.
Since Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are both hurt, Aaron Wan-Bissaka would move to left back while Diogo Dalot would play right back. Both players are likely to be out for the rest of the season, if not longer. In the summer, United needs to get some new players.
In the middle, Casemiro and Maino
This season, United’s center has really stood out. It has been great for the club that Kobbie Mainoo has become so popular so quickly. At last, a young player has stepped up in this area and begun to play at their best. It’s been a long time coming. His first game for England will definitely boost him even more.
In the game against Brentford, Mainoo will need a midfield partner because the home team will be looking to control the area through these spots. His partner will need to be strong and experienced. That guy might be Casemiro, but he was hurt not long ago and isn’t sure to play in this game.
To make things better for United, Christian Eriksen, Scott McTominay, or Mason Mount could all step in. Still, I think Casemiro will be healthy enough to play, though it remains to be seen if he can make it through 90 minutes. This summer, United also needs to make the center stronger.
Garnacho, Fernandes, and Rashford are in the attacking midfield.
United’s attackers haven’t been very good this season. Alejandro Garnacho has scored seven goals and set up four more. Markus Rashford has eight goals and six assists, and Bruno Fernandes has eight goals and nine assists. It’s clear that Garnacho is the best player here.
If Fernandes wants to keep doing what he’s been doing for the club, he needs to start putting in more goals. He will be happy with what he has done so far this season. Rashford, who scored the most goals for the team last year, is not even close to that level now.
But Ten Hag has options in these spots for the rest of the season. In the summer, the club will need to get rid of the players who aren’t doing well and bring in a better group. Antony, Mason Mount, Scott McTominay, Omari Forson, and Amad (who has been banned for this game) will be very important.
Move forward: Hojlund
Rasmus Hojlund has done really well in his first season at United. It wasn’t going well at first, and he was only scoring in the UEFA Champions League. It slowly changed, and he ended up scoring more goals than anyone else for United so far this season. He has helped score 13 goals and set up two more.
Although the Danish player is good enough to lead the line for United, he can’t do it by himself. Anthony Martial is hurt and can’t do anything for the club this season, so he doesn’t have any competition, which is a bad sign. I hope he leaves in the summer.
Ten Hag will have to make do with the players he has at the moment, and there may be players who can help the striker get things done. Amad Diallo might be that guy, but he can’t play tonight because he’s been suspended. But they might be needed until the end of the season.
