Looking to inflict more top-flight misery on their visitors, Brentford play host to Manchester United at the Gtech Community Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
The Bees extended their unbeaten run in the league to four matches on Thursday night, enjoying a shock success over Champions League candidates Nottingham Forest.
Goals either side of the half-time whistle from Kevin Schade and Yoane Wissa got the job done for Brentford, who are targeting an eighth-placed finish and European qualification.
Already enjoying memorable nights on the continent, Man United are back to the stresses of the domestic scene this weekend after a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League earlier in the week, meaning that the English giants have one foot in a European final at the end of May.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look at the head-to-head record and some notable previous meetings between Brentford and Man United before their clash on Sunday.
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Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 20
Man Utd wins: 11
Draws: 3
Brentford wins: 6
Manchester United and Brentford have butted heads a total of 20 times across all competitions, with the Red Devils leading the head-to-head record having posted 11 wins to the Bees’ six, while there have been three draws played out between these two teams.
January 1928 was the first time Man United and Brentford faced off in an FA Cup third-round tie, with the former securing a thumping 7-1 victory at Old Trafford thanks to four goals scored by James Hanson.
Man United also won their first-ever league meeting with Brentford in 1933, a 4-3 triumph away from home in the old Division Two, but the Bees got their revenge and won the reverse fixture 3-1 – the first of five victories in six matches against the Red Devils across all competitions over a five-year period.
Since Brentford secured promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 2022, Man United have faced the Bees six times, winning four of those and scoring nine goals in the process.
Ralf Rangnick‘s Man United beat Brentford 3-1 away from home in January 2022 before completing the double over the Bees courtesy of a 3-0 win at Old Trafford four months later – Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes were on the scoresheet in that fixture.
Ten Hag’s first encounter with Brentford was certainly one to forget, as his Man United side suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium in August 2022, with Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Ben Mee and Bryan Mbeumo all scoring inside the opening 35 minutes.
Man United came out on top by a narrow 1-0 scoreline in the reverse fixture, though, thanks to a first-half strike from Marcus Rashford, and they also beat Thomas Frank‘s side 2-1 on home soil the following season when Scott McTominay scored two dramatic stoppage-time goals to snatch maximum points.
Five months later, there was late drama at both ends at the Gtech Community Stadium, with Mason Mount‘s 96th-minute strike for Man United cancelled out by a 99th-minute equaliser from Brentford’s Kristoffer Ajer in a pulsating 1-1 draw.
The most recent meeting between these two teams took place at Old Trafford in October 2024 when Man United came from a goal down at half time to win 2-1 in the Premier League courtesy of strikes from Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund.
Last six Premier League meetings
Oct 19, 2024: Man Utd 2-1 Brentford (Premier League)
Mar 30, 2024: Brentford 1-1 Man Utd (Premier League)
Oct 07, 2023: Man Utd 2-1 Brentford (Premier League)
Apr 05, 2023: Man Utd 1-0 Brentford (Premier League)
Aug 13, 2022: Brentford 4-0 Man Utd (Premier League)
May 02, 2022: Man Utd 3-0 Brentford (Premier League)
