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Not long now: Referee Craig Pawson and his assistants lead both sets of players out on to the Gtech Stadium pitch, with Nathan Collins and Bruno Fernandes skippering the sides. Kick-off in west London is just a couple of minutes away.
Some more correspondence: “Lose today and it’s going to be impossible to make an argument against sacking Amorim,” writes Dave Estherby. “He’s done a lot wrong and not much right since he came but paying just south of £20m for a goalkeeper to replace two accidents waiting to happen, then starting one of said accidents ahead of him in every game since has got eff-up written all over it.”
I think you’re being a bit harsh on Tom Heaton there, if I’m honest. He kept a clean sheet in his sole 21-minute substitute appearance for Manchester United almost four years ago.
Some correspondence: “Peter Crouch stood behind Bayindir’s goal slagging him off while he warms up, on TNT,” writes John Potter. “The game’s gone.”
As somebody who has made no secret of the psychological difficulties he endured while being the subject of widespread and very public criticism at various points throughout his own playing career, I hope Crouchie at least had to good manners to lower his voice. We can but wonder if he’d be so vocal if … say, Emi Martinez was in said goal.
Ruben Amorim: Manchester United have the chance to win back-to-back Premier League games for the first time on their Portuguese head coach’s watch, a remarkable state of affairs that was rasied at his press conference yesterday.
“These kind of games we need to be focused and have the feeling we will win every match,” he said. “It is really important and we talk about that in the end of the game. It is important to have that sense of urgency that we need to win no matter what. Every time you start to watch the next opponent you feel it is going to be really tough. The most important is to start the way we start against Burnley and Arsenal
“It is normal for the fans not to know what is going to happen. I have an idea but I don’t know, so the best way of dealing with that is that every game is the last one. We think the next game is going to be really important in a long time for Manchester United.”
Keith Andrews on the return of Bryan Mbeumo: Speaking ahead of the former Brentford’s winger return to the Gtech Community Stadium for the first time as a Manchester United player, the Brentford head coach said he expects Mbeumo to get a warm welcome from home fans but hopes his players won’t extend the same courtesy to their erstwhile teammate.
“Bryan epitomises everything good about this football club,” Andrews said. “He was given time, patience and support, and I think the way it went last year was the culmination of that six-year journey where so many people in that building played a part in his development. I know for a fact he really appreciates that and he appreciates the fans.
“Bryan rightly should get a really good reception. Having said that, I don’t want us to give him a nice reception on the pitch. Yes, we know all about him, all his qualities We’re very aware of what a good player is and we’ll help hopefully try to nullify that by making it an afternoon he doesn’t enjoy.”
Keith Andrews on his Brentford rebuild: “We are forming a new team,” said the Dubliner in yesterday’s press conference. “There’s been a lot of change at the football club, myself included. We’re making steps, and sometimes those steps are in the direction we want. I think you have to accept that. You have to understand that.
“It’s really important for me to maintain the type of environment that’s been created here, where players can develop. We put internal pressure on ourselves. We don’t particularly need the external pressure to fuel anything from within. I think there’s that intrinsic motivation as an individual and all to be collectively, to be the best versions of ourselves. And that’s not always going to be perfect.”
Today’s match officials
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Referee: Craig Pawson
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Assistants: Lee Betts and Mat Wilkes
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Fourth official: Ben Toner
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VAR: Andy Madley
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Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton
Graham Potter sacked by West Ham
In case you missed the not-entirely-surprising news that broke about an hour ago, Graham Potter has been relieved of his duties as West Ham head coach, with Nuno Espirito Santo reported to have agreed to take training this weekend ahead of their trip to Goodison Park to face Everton on Monday night. If there’s a silver lining for Potter, who leaves his role after just nine months, he’ll now have time to catch up on all those social media face-swap memes he claimed to have not yet seen yesterday. Read on …
Those teams: Knowing how wedded his opposite number is to a 3-4-3 system not even Pope Leo XIV could force him to change, Keith Andrews looks to have switched to a back four with a line-up that features two changes from the side that lost against Fulham. Aaron Hickey is in at left-back, making his first start for Brentford since October 2023. Dango Ouattara also starts on the left wing, while Ethan Pinnock and Keane Lewis-Potter make way.
Ruben Amorim makes three changes to the side that beat Chelsea last weekend, all of them enforced. With Casemiro suspended, Manuel Ugarte comes into the centre of midfield, while Diogo Dalot is in for the injured Noussair Mazraoui. Matheus Cunha starts in place of Amad Diallo, who is at home on compassionate leave. Altay Bayindir continues in goal for United, preferred to both Tom Heaton and Senne Lammens, who are among the substitutes.
Brentford v Manchester United line-ups
Brentford: Kelleher, Kayode, Van den Berg, Collins, Hickey; Henderson, Yarmoliuk, Damsgaard; Ouattara, Schade, Thiago.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Henry, Pinnock, Jensen, Onyeka, Milambo, Ajer, Lewis-Potter, Janelt.
Manchester United: Bayindir, Dalot, De Ligt, Maguire, Shaw, Dorgu; Ugarte, Fernandes; Mbeumo, Cunha, Sesko.
Subs: Heaton, Lammens, Fredricson, Heaven, Leon, Yoro, Mainoo, Mount, Zirkzee.
Early team news
Brentford winger Gustavo Nunes and midfielder Paris Maghoma are both recovering from hamstring injuries and have been ruled out of today’s game. Both players will have to wait to make their debuts for the club they joined in the summer.
The daft red card Casemiro picked up for two needless bookings against Chelsea means the Brazilian will have to sit this match out through suspension but Diogo Dalot has been passed fit for selection after missing United’s past two games. Amad Diallo is absent due to a family bereavement, while Lisandro Martinez remains sidelined with a serious knee injury.
Premier League: Brentford v Manchester United
Seeking their first win in eight top flight games away from homed, Manchester United travel to the Gtech Community Stadium to take on a Brentford side struggling to adapt after a summer of change from the top down. Tasked with filling the big boots vacated by Thomas Frank, rookie head coach Keith Andrews has got off to a reasonable start considering the churn of players at Brentford during a summer in which they also saw big name players such as Yoane Wissa, Christian Norgaard and Yoane Wissa leave the club.
Dropping points from winning positions has already become a problem for a side that has coughed up eight thus far from five games, but an optimist might argue that at least they’re getting into those winning positions in the first place. Bouncing back from last weekend’s defeat at Fulham with a win against struggling Manchester United would certainly help cement Andrews’ credentials as a somewhat worthy successor to Frank.
Taking their latest crack at notching up back-to-back league wins for the first time under Ruben Amorim, United arrive in west London on the back of last weekend’s narrow victory over Chelsea at Old Trafford, a result into which not too much can be read given the apocalyptic weather conditions, the early red card shown to Robert Sanchez and his head coach’s subsequent tactical meltdown. Still, a win is a win and if United if can secure another one, Amorim may ease some of the pressure he remains under. Kick-off at the Gtech is at 12.30pm but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
