MATCH RESCHEDULED: ‘New’ kick-off time for Chelsea vs. Brentford, TV channel, prediction, team news, lineups, referee and VAR
MATCH RESCHEDULED: ‘New’ kick-off time for Chelsea vs. Brentford, TV channel, prediction, team news, lineups, referee and VAR
The Premier League’s two most prolific outfits meet at Stamford Bridge on Sunday night,
when Chelsea host Brentford in an all-West London affair.
Both added another four goals to their respective tallies following entertaining wins last weekend,
with Brentford seeking to continue a remarkable record in this future.
Match preview
Many will pinpoint this game as one that is guaranteed goals,
with the two sides currently at the top of the goals for column, but that may be slightly misleading.
Chelsea have scored just 12 of their 35 Premier League at Stamford Bridge this season,
while only Southampton have fewer goals on the road than Brentford’s five.
Enzo Maresca’s side start the weekend in second, but their home form has still been largely mediocre,
with just three wins from seven so far.
Their last outing here at the Bridge did end in success though, beating Aston Villa 3-0,
contributing to a run of four straight Premier League wins – the joint-longest streak any team has
enjoyed in the top flight this season.
The last three of those wins have seen the Blues score three or more goals too,
thanks to the supreme form of Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson,
and they have the opportunity to win four in a row while doing so for just the second time in their history,
after managing that feat in their title-winning campaign of 1954-55.
A 4-3 win at London rivals Tottenham Hotspur last weekend highlighted their defensive shortcomings though,
and a team as leaky as Chelsea very rarely compete for titles come May.
Nevertheless, the win did move them into second outright, after Arsenal dropped points at Fulham,
and Maresca’s men closed the gap on leaders Liverpool to four points after Arne Slot’s men saw their
fixture with Everton postponed.
A very youthful squad was taken out to Kazakhstan to face Astana on Thursday,
where Chelsea won 3-1, sealing their place in the last 16 of the Conference League,
meaning Maresca can rotate heavily again against Shamrock Rovers next week.
That means the Chelsea boss will have a fresh XI available,
even if he is slightly jaded from a 16-hour round trip to Almaty and back,
as they seek to end a bizarre record against Brentford.
Chelsea won at the Gtech in Brentford’s debut Premier League campaign in 2021-22,
but have not won any of the following five meetings, losing all three at Stamford Bridge.
With a 4-1 win on their first PL visit, and back-to-back 2-0 successes since,
Brentford have the chance to become the first team since Leeds United in the 1970s to win four in a row
at the Bridge.
The Bees have never been in a better place to build on that either,
having made their best start to a Premier League season after 15 games, with 23 points currently on the board.
However, just one of those 23 points have come away from home against a struggling Everton with
Southampton the only other club in the division yet to win on the road.
They may have beaten Newcastle United 4-2 in another thrilling home encounter last weekend,
but their last away trip saw Thomas Frank’s side comfortably beaten at Villa Park.
Despite winning just three away league games in 13 months,
Frank has claimed that there is no concern around their away results, but it will become a problem if goals and results at home dry up.
Chelsea Premier League form:
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Chelsea form (all competitions):
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Brentford Premier League form:
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Team News
After taking a ‘C’ team out to Almaty on Thursday, Maresca will revert back to a similar side that played against Spurs last week, with none of the travelling party from Kazakhstan expected to feature.
Pedro Neto was in the side on Thursday because he will serve a suspension this weekend following his yellow card against Spurs, meaning Noni Madueke is set to replace him on the wing.
The only other change could be at right-back, where Malo Gusto is in contention to start after being introduced at the interval in North London, and may replace Romeo Lavia.
Mykhaylo Mudryk is expected to be available after illness, but Reece James and Wesley Fofana remain out with respective hamstring injuries.
It is very unlikely that Brentford boss Frank will start with an XI as attacking as the one he named last week, with Bryan Mbeumo and Keane Lewis-Potter utilised as wing-backs, and Yoane Wissa, Igor Thiago and Fabio Carvalho in the front three.
The latter two may drop out in place of a defensive option such as Mads Roerslev, and Mikkel Damsgaard, who is also set to return after being given a rest against Newcastle following five consecutive starts.
Vitaly Janelt was unavailable last week with a minor issue and should be fit to feature, but Mathias Jensen is also set to miss out once more due to a hamstring problem.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Gusto, Badiashile, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Enzo; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Pinnock, Van den Berg; Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Lewis-Potter; Wissa
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