Breaking news:Ralf Ragnick reveals his 4-3-3 formation he will use to face tough Brentford although some key players are out cause of COVID but the squad is still wonderful for the job.

   Manchester United will face Brentford at 

the Brentford Community Stadium in 

the Premier League on Tuesday evening

. The match may be postponed because 

of coronavirus cases at United on Sunday

 following the reports that some players 

tested positive when doing lateral flow 

tests. However, the club has not suggested

 anything just yet, so I am sure we will 

find out whether the match is postponed 

or goes ahead at some time on Monday

. United beat Norwich City in the Premier

 League on Saturday evening, which 

was not the beat match United have 

played since Ralf Rangnick became the 

interim  manager of the club.

United rose to fifth place after beating

 Norwich and sit a point clear of Arsenal

 and a point behind West Ham United. 

Ragnick’s  side sit nine points behind third

-placed Chelsea, ten points behind second

-placed Liverpool and 11 points behind 

league leaders, Manchester City. It is going

 to be a tough time for United to break 

into the top four this month but it is 

something that is achievable based on the 

opposition they face between now and 

the end of the month. After Brentford, 

United will face Brighton and Hove 

Albion (H), Newcastle United (A) 

and Burnley (H). January will be an 

important month for United too with 

the Emirates FA Cup commencing.

United and Brentford have not yet met 

in the history of the Premier League as 

this if the London clubs first time in the 

top flight of English football. In the history

 of the two clubs, United and Brentford 

have met a total of 13 times with United 

winning six times, drawing two times and

 losing five times. The last competitive 

fixture between the two sides was in the

 League Cup in 1975 with United winning 

the match 2-1 with goals from Sammy 

McIlroy and Lou Macari. The last time

 United lost to Brentford was in 

the FA Cup in 1938, a 2-0 defeat. The

 two sides met in pre-season in the

 summer, drawing 2-2 at Old Trafford.

Joshua Bohui is perhaps the only player 

to have played for both Brentford 

and United, although this was at youth level

. The forward came through the ranks 

at Brentford signing from the Evolution 

Sports & Health Academy in 2011. In 

the summer of 2016, Bohui signed for 

United’s academy on a three-year contract

. He progressed through the U18 and U23 

sides for the club but at the end of his 

contract, he rejected (twice) the offer 

of a four-year contract at United. He 

has since played for NAC Breda,

 Colchester United, Waltham Abbey 

and Hayes & Yeading United. Max 

Haygarth is at Brentford B, leaving 

United’s academy in the summer.

Goalkeeper: David De Gea

David De Gea earned his place against 

Norwich City. His saves kept United in 

that match and he was well worth his 

selection to gain the clean sheet and the 

three points, which were needed after 

that turbulent time at the end of Ole Gunnar

 Solskjaer’s reign of the club. United are 

now undefeated in their last six matches 

in all competitions and that form needs to 

continue. United do need to become better 

on the pitch though. The match against 

Norwich was slow and cumbersome at times

 with United needing to become ruthless, 

like the days of old, which have seemingly 

gone by. This team is capable of beating 

the best teams in the league.

De Gea will, no doubt, be challenged by 

Dean Henderson and/or Tom Heaton this season

. It is important that United keep De Gea fresh

 as at the end of last season, it was a problem

 with some players and United do not need their

 best goalkeeper to be fatigued. With the 

positive COVID-19 tests this weekend, and 

the fact we do not know which players are 

involved, there could be some major changes

 to the squad which faced Norwich. We don’t

 know how many players are out and United

 will be missing eight due to injury and

 illness, which could pose further problems

. Perhaps youth could be called up on for this

 match, at least on the bench?

Defenders: Diogo Dalot, Eric Bailly,

 Harry Maguire, Alex Telles

United’s defence has conceded four goals

 in their last six matches, keeping two clean

 sheets, which is a positive for this team, 

who were leaking the goals in the recent 

months. United have a good team but they 

need to kick on and turn a corner – a corner

 that Solskjaer was unable to turn. Hopefully 

that can cone with Rangnick and whoever 

replaces him in the summer. Given that Victor

 Lindelof had to come off the pitch with 

chest/breathing problems on Saturday, he 

might not be involved in this match, which 

is a shame as he has been a positive in the 

last few matches that he has played.

Instead, it could be Eric Bailly and Harry

 Maguire who partner in the central defensive

 positions with Diogo Dalot and Alex Telles

 playing in the fullback positions. The duo 

have done well when given the chance to 

show what they can do and with Aaron 

Wan-Bissaka injured, Dalot has the right-back

 position nailed on. However, with Luke

 Shaw back to fitness, he could push Telles

 for his place in the team. The positive 

COVID-19 tests could change this defence, 

as we don’t yet know who will be missing 

from this team ahead of this match, if it 

does go ahead. United should be able to 

deal with what has happened though.

Midfield: Scott McTominay, Fred, Donny

 van de Beek

The 4-2-2-2 formation has not been working

 for United. The lack of width is a problem

 and it puts pressure on the midfield, which

 is not the best at this time, being that players

 are missing due to injury an illness. A 4-3-3 

formation would be much better for United – 

it gives width and the players to help the attack

, which is all that is needed to keep this team 

dominant. Of course, further additions 

will be needed for this formation to work, 

including a midfielder that can add some 

steel to the position – protecting the back

 for and creating from a deep-lying role. That

 was all that was needed in the summer, but

 it was not addressed for whatever reason.

Scott McTominay should start in the defensive

 area in this match – he did what was needed

 against Norwich but he may need to do more

 in order to gain the plaudits of those who 

seem to not want him at the club, let alone

 starting matches. Three permanent managers

 have seen the qualities of this player but

 people on Twitter hate him, so the manager

 needs to adapt to their position on the 

matter – yeah right! Fred should also start 

as he has been largely positive recently. 

With Bruno Fernandes struggling, a place 

on the bench should be his with Donny van

 de Beek playing in the advanced role, which

 could show Rangnick that he has cover in 

this position.

Forward: Mason Greenwood, Cristiano

 Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho

United’s attack has bags of potential this

 season. Granted, with Anthony Martial

 (who apparently wants to leave next month) 

and Edinson Cavani both on the sidelines, 

it leaves the attack limited in the resources

 available. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 

13th goal of the season against Norwich, 

which was a good penalty won fairly – 

not that the ABUs would agree with that. 

They hate to see the rules applied to United 

as they are so jealous of the club. Ronaldo 

at 36 is still a great player and the pundits

 cannot handle that either. It’s almost like 

he’s turning back the time, albeit playing 

as the lead striker, not the pacy winger.

Mason Greenwood needs to be playing 

more in this team. Marcus Rashford is well 

out of form and seems to be a hindrance 

for the club. Until he’s found a better period

 of form, he should be on the bench and 

working hard in training to find a way of 

getting back into the team as a starter. Jadon

 Sancho was subbed on Saturday when his 

play was more positive that Rashford’s. 

Having Greenwood and Sancho on the flanks

 with Ronaldo could be good for United. 

The pace and width that they offer is positive

 and will mean that Ronaldo could stay in 

the most dangerous areas to find goals. 

The attacking style of Dalot is also a positive

 that needs to be used more.

Substitutes: Dean Henderson; Phil Jones, Luke Shaw; Jesse Lingard, Bruno Fernandes, Charlie Savage; Marcus Rashford, Amad Diallo, Anthony Elanga

United cane name nine substitutes on the bench in the Premier League. Granted, until we know how many players are out after this positive COVID-19 test on Sunday, we don’t know what the club has left, in terms of players to field a team. At this time I would expect Dean Henderson to be on the bench with De Gea starting. That could all change though if either them are involved in the positive tests. In defence, not that United has many options there are this time, Phil Jones and Luke Shaw could both be available. That could all change though. There is a chance that the match is postponed because of the positives.

In the midfield, Jesse Lingard, Bruno Fernandes and Charlie Savage could all be available, as United’s U23’s are not in action until they face Chelsea at Leigh Sports Village on Friday evening. It is quite possible that more youth players are added to the first team to get through this period, instead of this match, or future matches being postponed for United to play at a later date, which might not be the best thing for the club. In attack, Marcus Rashford, Amad Diallo and Anthony Elanga could find themselves in with a chance of getting on the pitch and helping United get what they need against Brentford. This should be a win for United.