Match Preview: Brentford v Manchester United | OneFootball

Brentford welcome Manchester United to Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday in their penultimate home fixture of the Premier League season (2pm kick-off GMT).

Kevin Schade and Yoane Wissa were on target as the Bees earned an impressive 2-0 victory at Nottingham Forest on Thursday, while United beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final.

Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of another big game in west London.

Pre-Match Analysis

Richard Cole, Playmaker Stats: Brentford must prevent Fernandes from creating chances at the Gtech

Brentford will be looking to take advantage of Manchester United's Europa League focus when the Red Devils visit the Gtech on Sunday.

Despite the Bees enjoying that big 4-0 win over United early in the 2022/23 season, results have generally gone against Thomas Frank's team in previous meetings.

United have won five of the seven between the two in the Premier League with one other ending in a draw – although considering some of the performances, the west London side perhaps deserve a better record.

This will be a perfect opportunity to tip the scales back in Brentford's favour considering that United have made it clear where their priorities lie for the rest of the season.

Ruben Amorim's outfit will be back from a 3-0 Europa League semi-final win over Athletic Bilbao with one eye on getting the job done at Old Trafford next week.

Indeed, United are like two different teams depending on the competition. In 34 league games, they've scored 39 goals compared to the 31 goals they've netted in just 13 Europa League games where they remain the only team undefeated in European competition this season.

With United's forward line misfiring in the league, the danger for Brentford this weekend will likely come from one man: Bruno Fernandes.

Fernandes is United's top Premier League goalscorer this season with eight goals while also having assisted nine in the league, which ranks him joint sixth.

Over all competitions, Fernandes has 35 goal involvements (19 goals, 16 assists) which is his second-best season for the club behind the 2020/21 campaign (28 goals, 18 assists - 46 goal involvements).

And while Fernandes has had to take on much of the goal-scoring burden it will be important for Brentford to prevent him from creating.

The 30-year-old has made 84 key passes in the league this season which ranks him first in the Premier League and also first in the top five European leagues. Similarly, his 27 through balls see him ranked first domestically and second in Europe.

Through balls are a big source of his creation but should he be forced out wide then Brentford need to be aware that Fernandes is also third for crosses this season (172 in total).

All of this adds up to 169 shot-creating actions in the Premier League, second behind only Cole Palmer. The fact that these don't translate to him appearing in the top 10 for goal-creating actions tells its own story. One man who is up there for that though is Amad Diallo, who returned from injury on Thursday night. Only Bukayo Saka ranks higher for goal-creating actions per 90 (1.36) than Amad (0.9).

But of course, Brentford will want to think about going forward. Only four Premier League players have made more errors that have led to an opposition goal than goalkeeper André Onana international (three in total).

The Bees are also strong at set-pieces and they'll be facing a team that has conceded 13 times from those situations this season, only Southampton (18) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (19) have fared worse.

Scout Report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Europa League offers United a chance to salvage something from a forgettable season

Most thought last season was a struggle for Manchester United, when FA Cup glory was, arguably, the only high point in a campaign that ended with their lowest-ever Premier League finish in eighth.

You can guarantee they would snap your hand off to be in a similar position this time around. With four games left to play, United are sat in 14th on 39 points.

From a very early stage, it was clear this was not going to be a straightforward season for United. By the end of October, they had picked up 11 points from their first nine matches and were sat down in 14th, having not scored in four of those games.

Erik ten Hag’s future had been the topic of much speculation already, but the final nail in the Dutchman’s coffin was a 2-1 defeat to West Ham United on 27 October.

“At this moment, the luck is definitely not on our side,” he said afterwards. The next day, he was sacked after 17 months in the job.

Club legend Ruud van Nistelrooy took the reins in the interim, overseeing a 1-1 draw with Chelsea and a 3-0 win over Leicester in the Premier League, and an emphatic 5-2 victory over the Foxes in the Carabao Cup, as well as a Europa League win over PAOK.

Ruben Amorim replaced ten Hag on 11 November. The former Portugal international had put Sporting CP on the path to defending their Primeira Liga title and reportedly wanted to join the club in the summer, but United wanted him to take over immediately - and the job of a lifetime would not wait for him.

As Tyrone Marshall told us, there has been little improvement in the outlook for United over the six-month period since.

There was the very public exiling of Marcus Rashford, who Amorim said did not have the attitude of someone “giving the maximum every day.”

Then there was the miserable December, where the Red Devils lost five of their seven Premier League games - drawing a blank in four of those - and the Carabao Cup quarter-final exit at Tottenham Hotspur.

They have not risen above 12th in 2025 so far, having picked up just 17 of the 45 points on offer in that time.

After the 3-1 loss to Brighton on 19 January, Amorim made his feelings clear. “We are the worst team, maybe in the history of Manchester United,” he said. “I know you want headlines, but I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that.”

The sole source of hope has been in the Europa League, where they went unbeaten in 12 games on a run to the semi-final. United face Athletic Bilbao for a place in the final.

To reach that stage, they completed the most remarkable comeback against Lyon, battling back to win 5-4 in extra-time, having been 2-0 up after 45 minutes.

The trip to west London comes in the middle of the two semi-final legs, where they have a final chance to salvage something from a season they will otherwise want to forget about as quickly as possible.

In the Dugout

Ruben Amorim

Lisbon-born Ruben Amorim started out in the academy of Benfica as a youngster, but was released as a 17-year-old, without having found a way to the first team.

He then moved on to Belenenses, in the same city, and made his senior debut against Alverca in the Primeira Liga in December 2003.

Over the next four-and-a-half seasons, he played more than 100 games for O Belem, and progressed through the age groups for Portugal, earning the first of 10 U21s caps.

When his contract expired there, he signed a four-year deal to return to Benfica in 2008, where he was a regular for the first two seasons.

During his nine years there - which included two spells on loan at Braga and one at Al-Wakrah in Qatar - he was part of the squads that won three league titles, one Portuguese Cup, five Portuguese League Cups and one Portuguese Super Cup.

He also progressed to the senior Portugal team during that time and earned 14 caps between 2010 and 2014 - and was part of the squads for both the South Africa and Brazil World Cups.

Amorim retired at the age of 32 in April 2017 and started in management the following season with Casa Pia in the Portuguese third tier until January 2019.

He then returned to Braga to take charge of the B team, then the first team, but moved on to Sporting CP in March 2020.

In his second season, Sporting won the Primeira Liga for the first time in two decades and completed a double by lifting the Portuguese League Cup, a trophy they retained in 2021/22.

Spearheaded by Viktor Gyökeres, Amorim's side won the league title again in 2023/24, and they were top when he left to replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United in November.

The 40-year-old’s contract at Old Trafford runs until the summer of 2027.

The Gameplan

With Tyrone Marshall, Manchester Evening News

Tyrone Marshall, senior football writer at Manchester Evening News, explains how Ruben Amorim is likely to set up his side at the Gtech.

"Brentford fans should expect 3-4-2-1, as always! Amorim barely ever changes it," said Marshall.

"It is 3-4-2-1 all the time, wing-backs all the time, with two no.10s playing behind a striker.

"Even if he plays 11 kids against Brentford, it is going to be the exact same system, the exact same set-up.

"It makes them easy to scout, easy for the opposition to know what they are going to play against.

"Thomas Frank and his analysts will know full well what to expect from United. Amorim said in a press conference, 'This is my only idea'.

"I think he was dramatising it for effect, but he has played this formation constantly, beyond the first few games of his career. Whatever the personnel is, the system and beliefs will not change."

Last starting XI v Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League (3-4-2-1): Onana; Lindelöf, Maguire, Yoro; Mazraoui, Ugarte, Casemiro, Dorgu; Garnacho, Fernandes; Højlund

Read our full interview with Tyrone Marshall here

Team News

Frank: We are ready to go again

Head coach Thomas Frank provided an injury update during his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“Everyone is safe, fit, okay,” said Frank.

“We are ready to go again on Sunday. Of course, it is a tight turnaround, but it is what it is, and we are looking forward to playing on Sunday.

“It’s all about recovery from the final whistle last night [Thursday] until basically two hours before the game on Sunday. We are ready to attack again.”

As reported on Wednesday, Aaron Hickey and Igor Thiago have returned to full training.

Full-back Hickey (hamstring) has been unavailable since October 2023, while striker Thiago (knee) has been restricted to four appearances since his move from Club Brugge in the summer, with the most recent of those coming against Newcastle United in December.

One player who will not feature again this term is midfielder Vitaly Janelt, who recently had surgery to address an issue in his heel.

Fábio Carvalho (shoulder) is also unlikely to feature again this campaign, while Josh Dasilva (knee) is also sidelined.

Match Officials

Taylor handed second Bees assignment of the season

Referee: Anthony Taylor

Assistants: Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn

Fourth official: Sam Barrott

Video assistant referee: Matt Donohue

Anthony Taylor is set to referee his second Brentford game of the season on Sunday, having been the man in the middle for the Bees' 2-2 draw with Manchester City in January.

Taylor has taken charge of 42 games this season, showing 141 yellow cards and nine reds.

Memorable Meeting

Brentford 4 Manchester United 0 (Premier League, 13 August 2022)

Brentford beat Manchester United 4-0 in their first home game of the 2022/23 Premier League season.

Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Ben Mee and Bryan Mbeumo all found the net during a sensational first half at the Gtech Community Stadium.

It was the Bees’ first win over United since February 1938 and it was achieved in some style.