In the Premier League match that Manchester United will play against Brentford on Saturday, several key players will not be available. Erik ten Hag is particularly concerned about the situation in the midfield during this match.
In the days leading up to Manchester United’s Premier League match against Brentford on Saturday, Erik ten Hag has been presented with a scenario that is comparable to a nightmare.
After a catastrophic five-match losing skid that threatened Ten Hag’s career, United returns from the international break wanting to win desperately. The streak had been going on for five matches. During the break, Sir Jim Ratcliffe conducted a meeting with the executive team of United to consider Ten Hag’s future. The Dutchman is aware that he is attempting to navigate a precarious situation.
On Saturday at three o’clock in the afternoon, Ten Hag’s squad will play Brentford at Old Trafford. They are aware that this will be a challenging test, as Thomas Frank’s club has scored within the opening two minutes of each of their last four Premier League meetings. Despite the fact that there are a lot of players that are unavailable, things have not been made any simpler for Ten Hag.
United, who are presently in 14th position with two victories from seven games, have ten first-team players who are either unable to participate due to injuries or are considered to be a doubt coming into the encounter against Brentford. All three of the defenders, Leny Yoro, Tyrell Malacia, and Luke Shaw, have been out for an extended period of time and are currently unavailable.
In the meanwhile, United have experienced a further loss of players as a result of the announcement that Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo are expected to miss some time playing due to injuries. Due to a hamstring injury that he sustained during the 0-0 draw with Aston Villa, Mainoo withdrew from the England team for the break. It is anticipated that he will miss the following seven matches.
While Maguire is suffering from a calf problem, Mason Mount is also anticipated to be out from the Brentford match due to a head injury. Despite the fact that Noussair Mazraoui participated in United’s training session on Thursday, his continued participation is uncertain because he just underwent a small corrective treatment as a preventive measure after experiencing heart palpitations.
On Thursday, Manuel Ugarte was only able to participate in light training since he had a thigh injury while he was competing for Uruguay in an international match. Alejandro Garnacho did not participate in the international break for Argentina because of a longstanding knee ailment, and Amad did not play for Ivory Coast because of illness. Both players were absent from the international break. On Thursday, both of them practiced, and they should be in contention; nonetheless, the situation for Ten Hag is not even close to being perfect.
During his tenure at United, the former Ajax manager has had a difficult time fielding his first-choice backline, and this trend is expected to continue on Saturday. In the absence of Shaw and Malacia, it seems expected that Diogo Dalot will continue to play left back. Victor Lindelof may be able to step in for Mazraoui at right back in the event that the Morocco international is unable to play. In the draw that took place at Villa Park, Lindelof was brought in and performed a good job.
Because of his outstanding performance against Villa, Jonny Evans will be competing with Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt for a spot in the starting lineup. Evans was named the man of the match.
The most significant issues are located in the middle of the field, where there may be just two veteran players who are still in good shape. In light of the fact that Ugarte is uncertain and Mount is not available, it is quite probable that Casemiro will be paired with Christian Eriksen in a partnership that may be diminished in mobility due to the absence of Mainoo.
Rasmus Hojlund, Bruno Fernandes, and Marcus Rashford are all available again, which is a nice development in the attack department. Marcus Rashford is also available. Despite the fact that Garnacho has been rotated with Amad, it appears like he will play for the team instead.
Onana, Lindelof, Martinez, De Ligt, and Dalot; Casemiro, Eriksen; Fernandes, Garnacho, and Rashford; Hojlund are the players that are predicted to be in place.
