Erik ten Hag received a huge boost for the next league game on the same day Man Utd beat Brentford

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Manchester United’s win vs Brentford will make Erik ten Hag hopeful that his team can finally stitch together a run of victories after a brutal start to the season.

Just three wins in 11 before this victory made for painful reading and so bad was the condition that this win vs Brentford still has them in the bottom half of the table.

Every game is now borderline must-win and that started with Brentford, needs to be continued in Europe vs Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce before a tricky trip to West Ham United.

The London Stadium is a banana skin fixture, especially coming just two days after a potentially brutal trip to Turkey to face Mourinho who would be relishing the prospect of landing a hit on Manchester United.

Julen Lopetegui’s men haven’t been in form at all but sometimes, a marquee fixture in front of home fans is all it takes to get the player up again.

However, those chances for West Ham took a huge hit, and Erik ten Hag’s side received a huge boost on the same day they beat Brentford.

Erik ten Hag receives good news

A “huge boost” before the game can only be down to two factors- either a player on the team has recovered from an injury and is available again, or a player in the opposition is unavailable.

United’s injury situation will be cleared up by Ten Hag in his press conference before the Fenerbahce game but it’s unlikely to have changed much.

Mason Mount remains more MIA than not, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are being treated with extreme caution, and Kobbie Mainoo will miss seven games.

Leny Yoro is out until the next international break at least so that leaves the prospect of West Ham United potentially missing a big player.

That is exactly what happened as Mohammed Kudus’ moment of madness vs Tottenham in their league game on Saturday led to him being shown a red card.

Kudus has previously scored against United and his shadow striker role attacks the position most vulnerable at United- defensive midfield.

His suspension for three games, starting with the one at home vs Man Utd comes at the best possible time for Ten Hag’s men who have one less factor, a big one at that, to worry about.

Lopetegui criticised Kudus and other Hammers players after the game as the latest capitulation has them 15th in the Premier League table.

There is no better time to face a fixture that is generally extremely tricky.

Man Utd plan for Mohammed Kudus’ absence

Kudus hasn’t been extremely prolific to start the season as he has scored just twice in eight league games but just his presence in those pockets behind the striker is a nightmare for defenders to deal with.

United in Focus spoke to Antony Martin, a West Ham United fan and journalist at Hammers News to understand how Kudus’ absence can benefit United and most importantly, if it is a huge miss at all.

Martin said: “Obviously losing Kudus is a massive blow, but he hasn’t been anywhere near his best this season. However, the West Ham fans are desperate to see Summerville start, so it will be interesting.

“I think he will be replaced by Crysencio Summerville on the left wing – that’s almost certain in my eyes. The only other option is moving Paqueta to the left wing and bringing Carlos Soler into midfield.”

Kudus has been mainly deployed on the left wing which means Summerville will probably be up against Diogo Dalot, who flourished in an inverted role in the second half vs Brentford.

Summerville is a more traditional winger than Kudus who is effectively a shadow striker so the challenge for Dalot will be to shackle him defensively and impose himself on the game to pin him back.

The central midfielders and defenders can help overload the middle alongside Dalot to press high and force turnovers but will have to be mindful of Summerville’s pace on transitions.

Ultimately, the type of challenge Ten Hag’s side will face changes drastically with Kudus’ absence but it is impossible to say whether that’s harder or easier because Kudus hasn’t been at his best but still remains a big name who has a history with United.