Brentford vs Man United and Newcastle vs Arsenal: The Narrative.

Chelsea vs Brighton and Spurs vs Wolves also previewed.

For GW6 on The Narrative we’re analysing:

•⁠ Brentford vs Man United

• Chelsea vs Brighton

•⁠ ⁠Spurs vs Wolves

• Newcastle vs Arsenal

This week’s Fan Voice-Note is from the Arsenal Vision Pod supremo Clive , who is apprehensive ahead of Sunday’s big game at St James’ Park. 🗣️📱

Brentford vs Man United

On the back of a win against Chelsea, Ruben Amorim will be looking to finally make it two wins in a row for the first time in the Premier League since he joined.

Brentford won’t make that easy for Man United though, as they’ll look to get another good result at home this season despite their poor away form.

How Will They Lineup?

The JLA Tactics Board Is Now Available… https://jlatacticsboard.com/

Brentford are expected to remain unchanged despite the loss to Fulham, with Keith Andrews unlikely to go outside of his trusted names so far this season, though he will be expecting stronger performances all round.

Man United are set to make two changes from their win against Chelsea, with Manuel Ugarte replacing the suspended Casemiro and Amad Diallo making way in favour of the returning Matheus Cunha, as United fans will be excited to see their new front three start together for the first time this season.

Dangerous Long Throws

Having scored seven goals from throw-ins since last season and recording the highest expected goals from throw-ins in the Premier League each season since their promotion. and have recorded the highest expected goals from throw-ins in the Premier League each season since their promotion, it has become a part of Brentford’s identity.

Graphic from Sky Sports - Long throws: How Brentford became the Premier League kings in this department amid goal spree

Their main threat against Fulham were Michael Kayode’s long throw-ins, which Fulham dealt with well and the same will be expected of Man United this weekend if they want to come away with a win.

With Trevoh Chalobah’s scoring a header against Chelsea, we should expect Harry Maguire to play the full game against Brentford as he will be looking to win his aerial duels, especially from the throw-ins that could cause serious issues if not dealt with properly.

Sesko vs Collins – A Key Individual Battle

One thing that impressed for Manchester United against Chelsea was Benjamin Sesko’s flick on in the lead up to Robert Sanchez’s red card, as mentioned in the Fallout.

This would see him naturally pitted up against Nathan Collins who struggled with Rodrigo Muniz in the air against Fulham, and United fans will be expecting the same from their big summer signing.

If Sesko can replicate a performance like Muniz had, excelling in the air and showing some excellent hold up play, this will be the key to beating Brentford, opening the game for Mbeumo, Cunha and Fernandes who are all more than capable of creating chances for others and themselves.

The Brentford Press

We saw against Fulham how good Brentford can be in their pressing, with the first goal of the game coming from their man to man press as well as some expert anticipation from Mikkel Damsgaard in recognising the right time to leave his man to cut out Josh King’s poor pass.

This is something that could be used against Man United, who have struggled with central progression and beating pressing structures already this season, particularly against Man City, with too much reliance in their build up on players who aren’t comfortable with the ball.

When looking at the stature of both clubs, you’d usually expect this to be a run of the mill game for United, however, they’ve shown time and time again that this probably won’t be the case.

Brentford have been almost the cliché ‘tough game’ in recent years, but for good reason, and with Keith Andrews looking to truly make his name, a good result against the Red Devils could be huge in doing just that.

There will be a lot expected from Benjamin Sesko, and having yet to impress significantly so far, against Brentford’s typically solid defensive unit, I could see the game being decided in that key tactical duel of Collins and Sesko.

Prediction – 1-1.

Chelsea vs Brighton

Chelsea are back at Stamford Bridge this Saturday as they take on Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton.

Following their 2-1 loss to Manchester United in a poor performance after Robert Sanchez’s red card, the Blues will be looking to bounce back against the Seagulls.

Brighton, who have won once in the league this season against Manchester City, will be hoping to do it again against a ‘big six’ side on the back of a 2-2 draw against Spurs.

How Will They LineUp?

With Robert Sanchez suspended, Filip Jorgensen is set to start in goal for Chelsea, as well as Andrey Santos expected to replace Cole Palmer who is set to miss the game through injury, meaning that Enzo Fernandez is likely to start in a more advanced role.

Brighton will likely remain mostly unchanged from their game against Spurs, with Diego Gomez likely to be rewarded for his four goals against Barnsley in the Carabao Cup with a return to the starting eleven over Brajan Gruda.

How Can Chelsea Improve?

The performance against Man United was nowhere near good enough, even while acknowledging that Chelsea were down to ten men for longer than their opposition.

With Maresca’s comments that he would rather concede a goal than see a red card at that stage of the game, it’s not likely that we’ll see a Chelsea player getting sent off anytime soon.

Defensively, Chelsea seemed almost passive when the ball came into the box, not doing enough to challenge the second ball, particularly for Casemiro’s goal, allowing Luke Shaw far too much space in the box as they waited for it to fall back down, and this is something which surely has been worked on in training leading up to this game.

With Estevão and Pedro Neto set to start again, hoping to remain on the pitch longer than last week, we could see significant improvement from Maresca’s side, who would then be less reliant on Reece James’ crosses.

James and Marc Cucurella should be able to deliver higher quality crosses with the wingers back too, as the wingers allow more options for the fullbacks going forward, able to come inside to form a pentagon in midfield, more likely than the usual box we see due to Fernandez playing as the 10 rather than Palmer.

The fullbacks could also come outside to provide the width, creating space for the wingers to find more dangerous positions on the inside.

How Can Brighton Defend This?

Brighton will be expected to defend in a 4-5-1 shape in the second phase of play, as we have seen from them this season in previous games, sat behind the ball looking to cut off the passing lanes through the middle with the striker putting pressure on the ball.

This will force Chelsea to go out wide where Jan Paul Van Hecke and Lewis Dunk will be expected to deal with any crosses that come into the box, though this will be risky due to the quality of Chelsea’s wingers one on one, as well as Cucurella and James’ crossing ability.

On The Counter

If they can contain the Chelsea attacking movements, we can expect Brighton to look to hit Chelsea on the break, with Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh’s pace able to cause issues for most teams in the Premier League.

We have seen their prowess going forward on the counter this season, with Minteh’s goal against Spurs highlighting both wingers’ willingness to make the run as soon as they win the ball back, with the Gambian’s pace too much for Spurs as he got in behind to finish the first goal of the game.

With Chelsea’s defence looking shaky at times this season, there is no reason that an impressive Brighton side can’t cause Chelsea a lot of issues going forward like they did against Man City and Spurs in particular.

Chelsea will be looking to put their stamp on the game, especially with how poorly they played against both Man United and Bayern Munich, and it would be expected that the players step up, specifically the wingers who will want to prove something.

Chelsea at their best have looked like title contenders this season, and it is hard to imagine that they would be happy with anything but a comfortable win.

Prediction – 2-0.