'I am not sure' - Chris Sutton predicts more misery for Man Utd as Paul Merson tips 'nightmare' vs Brentford
Man Utd return to league action with the chance to climb the table against relegation threatened Brentford.
Ruben Amorim will be hoping that his Manchester United side finally click into gear and can add the finishing touches to what have been encouraging performances against Brentford.
Statistically, United aren't far away in terms of creating chances and causing teams problems, however, the only statistic that really matters is the scoreline at full-time and there are still some improvements and consistency needed to be found on that front. The reality is, the Red Devils sit just three points behind Arsenal in second place who have a difficult trip to Newcastle, it is the perfect opportunity to close the gap.
Chris Sutton predicts more misery for Ruben Amorim and Man Utd
Brentford currently sit just one place above the relegation places with only one league win so far this season and the loss of Thomas Frank, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa has been a difficult to take. An experienced manager would have a difficult time with this, never mind one in their first senior appointment like Keith Andrews.
On their own patch though, they continue to be a tough nut to crack and Chris Sutton, writing in his BBC Sport predictions column, is sitting on the fence: "The Bees are a difficult team to predict now because Keith Andrews has had some mixed results since taking charge - they ended up being out-played by Fulham last week, but they are still unbeaten at home.
"I am not sure what we will see from Ruben Amorim's side, either. Robbie Savage was telling me on 606 that United have got the best xG (expected goals) in the Premier League, which suggests they have under-achieved so far. I can see this being quite a tight game and while I didn't go for any draws at all last week - I got a bit complacent because I was finding it so easy to beat AI and decided I would pick a winner in every game - I am going to start with one this time. Sutton's prediction: 1-1"
Paul Merson, via Sportskeeda, agrees with Sutton, predicting an uncomfortable afternoon for United and Amorim: “Ruben Amorim needed that the other day against Chelsea. I don't see Brentford losing this game though. This is a nightmare game for Manchester United!
“Brentford won't make this an open game, they will sit back and make life difficult for the visitors. They are also great from set-pieces and long throw-ins, which is obviously a concern for Manchester United because their goalkeeper is not confident enough.”
The two key players for United
Brentford have been conceding two goals a game and United have been creating more chances and taking more shots than any other team, unless something has drastically changed in the space of a week, there will be opportunities for Amorim's side to score goals.
There is also the law of averages, Benjamin Sesko has yet to hit the net in a United shirt, surely it is only a matter of time? Having made it through the toughest fixture list on paper in the first five fixtures, the Old Trafford outfit now need to start picking up points and climb the table.
The key area of the park will be in midfield, if United can dominate possession, they will dominate the chances that are created. It is the perfect game to move Bruno Fernandes further forward again and let a more defensive pairing in midfield cover the wing-backs so that there can be more width in the final third too. Amorim doesn’t need to make wholesale changes, only tweaks and fine tuning.