How to watch and follow Brentford v United

It will have been 13 days since that memorable Emirates FA Cup quarter-final victory over Liverpool at Old Trafford, but the Premier League now takes priority until late April.

This is the first of a London double-header for Erik ten Hag’s side, as a visit to Chelsea follows on Thursday 4 April (20:15 BST) and a couple of consecutive away wins would be hugely valuable as we seek to close the gap to Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur above us.

We're nine points behind Villa, albeit with a game in hand over Unai Emery's fourth-placed side, while Spurs's advantage to us is just six points after their defeat at Fulham earlier this month.

Here’s what you need to know before our third outing at the Gtech Community Stadium…

HOW CAN I FOLLOW THE GAME?

Our clash with Thomas Frank’s side gets underway at 20:00 GMT. It will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK.

Alternatively, you can watch MUTV's Matchday Live show from 18:55 GMT across our platforms, a programme which brings exclusive pre-match build-up, post-match reaction and more.

The United App remains the primary destination for all your matchday content, with interactive polls and Erik's Matchday Q&A available before the game, live updates, radio commentary and stats available during the action, and manager and player interviews following the game's conclusion.

Short and extended highlights will be available to view in the early hours of Sunday morning.

TEAM NEWS

Cup hero Amad is suspended, due to the second yellow card he picked up after scoring the extra-time winner against Liverpool, while Tyrell Malacia, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw are still sidelined.

Although Harry Maguire’s international break was cut short after he suffered a knock in England’s defeat to Brazil, Lisandro Martinez is working towards a return following two months out with a knee issue. Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount and Aaron Wan-Bissaka made comebacks prior to the hiatus, but Altay Bayindir, Casemiro and Jonny Evans all missed our most recent fixture due to injury.

The Bees are without former United loanee Sergio Reguilon, through suspension, while key defenders Rico Henry and Ben Mee have been ruled out for the rest of the campaign, as has midfielder Josh Dasilva.

Aaron Hickey and Kevin Schade are also long-term absentees, but Frank will be hoping to deliver good news on captain Christian Norgaard and Ethan Pinnock when he sits down with the press later this week.

Bryan Mbeumo is bidding for a first start since December, having returned from a four-month lay-off as a substitute at Burnley a fortnight ago.

RECENT MEETINGS

United memorably beat Brentford at Old Trafford in October, with Scott McTominay’s stoppage-time double turning defeat into victory. It was United’s fourth win from five meetings with Brentford in the Premier League era and the first of those came at the Bees’ ground in January 2022, as Anthony Elanga, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood scored in a 3-1 success when Ralf Rangnick was interim boss.

The less said about last season’s visit, the better, as Frank’s side won 4-0 in Ten Hag’s first away game in charge, with the Bees finding the net four times inside the opening 35 minutes to secure a first league victory over United since 1938.

FORM GUIDE

The Reds have taken more Premier League points than any club outside of the top three in 2024, having won five, drawn one and lost two of our fixtures since the turn of the year. Three of those successes have come away from home and we’ve been defeated in just one of our last seven outings on the road – at Manchester City – when you take the FA Cup into account.

Despite the January return of last season’s leading goalscorer, Ivan Toney, it’s been a winter of struggle for Brentford, who have taken just 10 points from their last 18 games in the division, including a run of five defeats in six. They were beaten 2-1 at struggling Burnley last time out, as the Clarets took advantage of Reguilon’s early red card.

WHO ELSE IS PLAYING?

SATURDAY 30 MARCH

Newcastle v West Ham (12:30 GMT)
Bournemouth v Everton
Chelsea v Burnley
Nottingham Forest v Crystal Palace
Sheffield United v Fulham
Tottenham v Luton
Aston Villa v Wolves (17:30 GMT)
Brentford v UNITED (20:00 GMT)

SUNDAY 31 MARCH

Liverpool v Brighton (14:00 BST)
Manchester City v Arsenal (16:30 BST)

All times 15:00 GMT unless stated.