Doubts and £15m problem - Ineos are about to face their biggest Manchester United acid test

Never has a Premier League fixture against a team expected to finish mid-table felt so important for Manchester United.

Following a run of five games in all competitions without a victory, Saturday's visit of Brentford could easily rank as Erik ten Hag's most important as United manager so far. He has survived the October international break after being granted a stay of execution by the club's hierarchy.

United officials met at Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Knightsbridge offices less than 48 hours after the 0-0 draw with Aston Villa a little over a week ago and many anticipated a club statement confirming Ten Hag's exit was going to follow.

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However, United did not say a word, meaning no news was good news as far as Ten Hag was concerned. The Manchester Evening News, late on Friday afternoon, then reported that Ten Hag was expecting to keep his job ahead of the restart this weekend.

Of course, it goes without saying that Ten Hag is under enormous pressure ahead of the visit of Thomas Frank's side. United are winless in five, have failed to score in each of their last three Premier League matches and have won just two of their first seven league games this season. Anything less than a win on Saturday will only turn up the heat on the Dutchman.

The same, too, should be said for Ineos and United's hierarchy. Ratcliffe has made wholesale changes to the United football structure since becoming a minority investor in February, rebuilding the hierarchy and Ten Hag's coaching team. The only ever-present has been Ten Hag.

The United hierarchy considered sacking Ten Hag at the end of