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Following an emphatic 3-0 away win over Athletic Club in the UEFA Europa League, Manchester United will hope to continue their winning ways when they return to the Premier League to face Brentford this afternoon.
While Man United have been strong performers in Europe, the league has been an entirely different story, with Ruben Amorim’s side failing to win any of their past five matches.
Brentford, on the other hand, have enjoyed a recent spike in form in the English top flight, defeating Nottingham Forest 2-0 away from home after enjoying a resounding 4-2 win over Brighton at the Gtech Community Stadium.
As a consequence, United will need to have their wits about them when taking on this dark horse team.
In their past match, United did well to fix many of their bad habits. Not only was there not as much playing out from the back, which has constantly placed the defence under unnecessary pressure, but their attacking display was fast-paced, energetic, and innovative.
Several United stalwarts stepped up to provide an emphatic performance for their side, with the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Casemiro, and Manuel Ugarte at their best.
While a replica of this performance will certainly serve United well against Brentford, there are some aspects of the home team’s game that they should remain wary of.
Although Thomas Frank’s team sit in 11th position on the league table, they are one of the most threatening attacking sides in the Premier League this season, scoring 58 goals in just 34 matches.
Still, what is important to understand is that no matter how impactful they are, today’s hosts have been fairly rigid in the way that they seek out goals.
Of their 58 goals in the league to date, 42 have been scored in the penalty area, with 13 inside the six-yard box. This means that just three goals have come from shots outside the box. (WhoScored)
Compare this to strugglers United, who have only found the back of the net on 39 occasions, yet eight of their shots came from outside of the box.
This comes as little surprise, given that Brentford has taken just 94 shots (25%) from outside the box this entire season, with the remaining 295 coming from within. This shows a clear preference to get the ball into the box and effectively penetrate the defence before shooting rather than attempting to test the goalkeeper from a further distance.
Interestingly, United have been more versatile in this regard, taking 169 of their 464 shots from outside the box, making for 36% of their total attempts.
As a result, there is a clear defensive strategy that United should employ in order to shut down the Brentford attack, which is to contain the hosts’ front line and force them into spaces outside the box.
This could require abandoning a high line in favour of a more conservative defending style, while also making sure not to play out from the back with short passes. After all, Brentford have several highly alert attackers such as Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa who would surely pounce on any vulnerability that United shows.
Should United do this, they may just have what it takes to come away with the win, especially if they replicate their attacking performance from earlier this week.
After all, while Brentford’s attack may be lethal, their defence has been shambolic – they’ve conceded 50 goals this season, which is actually three more than United, who have severely underperformed this season to say the least.
By keeping Brentford’s attackers at a distance and showing the same attacking ingenuity as they did against Athletic Club, United could very well come away with the win and energise themselves ahead of their next Europa League clash.
Feature image Ryan Pierse via Getty Images
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