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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 30
Brentford v Manchester United
Gtech Community Stadium
London, England
Saturday, 30 March 2024
Kick-off is at 20h00
Manchester United will be looking to capitalise on Brentford's poor run of recent form when they visit the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday, March 30 in the late kick-off.
The Red Devils have a good record against the Bees in the Premier League, winning four of their five encounters, with the only blip coming in Erik ten Hag's second match at the helm after they suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat in the capital.
Ten Hag's side kept their top-four hopes alive with a 2-0 victory over Everton at Old Trafford on March 9 to close within six points of Tottenham, who lost 3-0 to Fulham one week later to slip three behind Aston Villa (4th).
The West Londoners, meanwhile, crashed to a disappointing 2-1 defeat to relegation-threatened Burnley at Turf Moor on March 16, which left them without a win in their last six games.
A fourth loss in five outings pushed Brentford closer to danger as they are just five points clear of the relegation zone in 15th position and only one clear of Everton (16th).
Suggested photo: Ivan Toney of Brentford
In team news, both managers are far from full strength due to injuries. Thomas Frank continues to be without Joshua Dasilva, Rico Henry (both knee), Ben Mee (ankle), Aaron Hickey (thigh), Kevin Schade (groin) and Christian Norgaard (back), while Sergio Reguilon is suspended. Ten Hag is missing Luke Shaw (thigh), Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia (both knee), Jonny Evans, Altay Bayindir, Casemiro (both muscular) and Anthony Martial (groin). Amad Diallo is ruled out through suspension.
Frank welcomed the international break as it gave the likes of Bryan Mbeumo and Ethan Pinnock the chance to regain their fitness in a bid to be ready for the run-in.
"It's good for the international guys to go away: we know that some will refresh a bit, some can train harder and some will come back from injury," the Dane said.
"Bryan took a step further down the line to be closer to potentially starting and with Ethan, we will see over the next two weeks. The only thing I care about is that we will be ready for the run-in and we will be ready to fight, no doubt about that."
Suggested photo: Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United
Ten Hag is confident that his squad can cope with the injuries that have plagued them all season, as evidenced when Aaron Wan-Bissaka made his first appearance in two months in the FA Cup quarter-final win over Liverpool on March 17.
"If you oversee this season, we have had so many setbacks all the time," the Dutchman said. "We have players dropping out and, every time, we have to adapt.
"Also, yesterday, Jonny Evans, in the last minute of the training, he dropped out. Then we have to adjust to bring a player in who didn't train, didn't play for four or five weeks and he had only one or two training sessions with the team.
"And then he came in and Aaron Wan-Bissaka was playing so well, but the team adjusted also to that we had to change. And so we can deal better with such situations.
"Where we were in autumn, it was difficult to adjust where we had all the injuries. So what you now see in January, February, March, we can deal better with this. And still we have a lot of injuries, but we can deal with it. We get our wins."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Brentford wins - 1
Man United wins - 4
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 30 fixtures:
Saturday, March 30
12h30: Newcastle United v West Ham United
15h00: Bournemouth v Everton
15h00: Chelsea v Burnley
15h00: Nottingham Forest v Crystal Palace
15h00: Sheffield United v Fulham
15h00: Tottenham Hotspur v Luton Town
17h30: Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers
20h00: Brentford v Manchester United
Sunday, March 31
13h00: Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion
15h30: Manchester City v Arsenal
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