Brentford and West Ham receive boost as key Manchester United star ruled out 'for a few weeks'

Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has been ruled out of both United’s games against Brentford and West Ham with a muscle injury. The midfielder will likely be sidelined until the start of November.

This comes as a boost for both the London clubs, who face United in the next two weekends in the Premier League. Mainoo has been one of Ten Hag’s key men so far this season. Brentford make the trip to Old Trafford on Saturday as they look to make it three games unbeaten after a 1-1 draw with West Ham and a 5-3 win over Wolves before the international break.

Meanwhile, West Ham faces a tricky away trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday coming off the back of an impressive 4-1 win over Ipswich before the international break. Facing an out-of-sorts Manchester United side without one of their key midfielders gives Brentford and West Ham a chance of three points, especially considering that they are both ahead of United in the table who sit 14th after seven games.

Mainoo loss could prove costly for United against Brentford

Manchester United’s form so far this season has been poor under Erik Ten Hag, but crucially their form coming out of an international break is particularly poor. They have the worst record out of the ‘big six’ teams when playing after the October break over the past decade.

They have won just three of 10 games since 2014 coming off the October international break, drawing 5 and losing twice. Meanwhile Brentford last season came off the break with a 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion when Ivan Toney scored twice for the Bees. Considering too that they recently netted five times against Wolves and won’t have to face Kobbie Mainoo, Thomas Frank’s side will be feeling full of confidence ahead of their trip to Old Trafford on Saturday.

Manchester United without several more players

Not only will the Red Devils face Brentford without Kobbie Mainoo, but they are missing several names due to injury issues that have developed over the international break.

Noussair Mazraoui is a doubt for the game after undergoing precautionary heart surgery over the break as Harry Maguire has also been ruled out in a similar timeline to Kobbie Mainoo.

Furthermore, attackers Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho are also both in doubt for Saturday’s match as Diallo is dealing with illness and Garnacho with a knee injury. It could force Erik Ten Hag to play Marcus Rashford and Antony on both flanks against Brentford.