"What surprised me is how physically and tactically astute the smaller teams in this league are."
Ralf Rangnick has already learned that nobody can be underestimated in the Premier League, and Thomas Frank's Brentford have proven that point since a scintillating opening night win at home to Arsenal. Having gained promotion from the Championship through playoff success amidst Ivan Toney's record breaking goalscoring campaign last term, Brentford are already cemented in the top-flight's mid-table battle in their first ever season of Premier League football.
Currently, Frank has his side in a modest 14th with only the single game in hand (this match). Although their league position sounds somewhat unimpressive on the face of things, Brentford are already 10 points clear of the relegation zone. Moreover, the London side have beaten Arsenal and West Ham this season, holding Liverpool and coming close against both Chelsea and Manchester City. Recently, early efforts have been tarnished by four defeats in five league matches - successive three-goal margin away defeats to Southampton and Liverpool embody current struggles.
The Bees will be relieved to be back at their new 'Brentford Community Stadium' to take on United, with three of their last four home matches in the league seeing them take three points. United have dropped points in five of their past seven away league fixtures, adding to the home side's encouragement.
It is the first ever Premier League meeting between United and Brentford, the first competitive encounter since a League Cup match in 1975. However, the sides did go head-to-head in pre-season, with an Andreas Pereira volleyed stunner a highlight within a 2-2 draw.
When this match was initially scheduled for in mid-December, Rangnick was only two league matches into his tenure as United manager - at least then his record was a winning one. Fast forward over a month, and United have only won once in four league matches. It has been missed opportunities galore when it comes to making up ground on the top four, with United still seventh and falling into the grasps of those behind.
United are alleviated of many issues heading into Wednesday night's match, with Rangnick saying, "We don't have any issues, we have players available, we haven't had any Covid cases."
It is expected that Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo could return for United having returned to training, with Rangnick suggesting "they both could be available".
After the controversy of his apparent refusal to play at Villa Park, Anthony Martial was photographed back with the squad. "All the things that needed to be said, I said after the press conference," Rangnick insisted. "I had a conversation with him on Sunday, a personal conversation with him about what happened and how I saw the whole situation. The matter is now resolved."
Aaron Wan-Bissaka "will not be available and also probably not available for the West Ham game" due to illness, with Jesse Lingard sidelined with an ankle injury sustained in training. Luke Shaw is also rumoured to have picked up a knock, whilst Anthony Elanga has been widely tipped for another start.
In the meantime, Rangnick has confirmed, "Paul Pogba had his first day of training with the whole group and in the first training session he showed what an extraordinary player he could be. What you can see from the very first day in training is that he’s present, physically and mentally and what I saw in training was very promising for the future. He won't be available for the two games this week but after the international break against Middlesbrough and Burnley he could be."
It could benefit Pogba (on his return) that Rangnick has vowed to maintain the 4-3-3 system adopted against Aston Villa. "We have decided to play in a 4-3-3," the German said, "with one holding player and two eights."
For Brentford, Josh Dasilva played one half of a behind-closed-door friendly in his bid for fitness after a long-term hip issue. Mathias Jorgensen is expected to miss out, as will goalkeeper David Raya as well as Charlie Goode and Julian Jeanvier. Frank Onyeka is on Africa Cup of Nations duty.
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