Chelsea are out for revenge in Saturday’s West London Derby at lunchtime as they welcome Brentford at Stamford Bridge.
The Bees have humiliated Chelsea on their last two visits to Stamford Bridge, including a 4-1 comeback win 18 months ago that featured three goals scored in seven second-half minutes.
The Blues have recently had a number of encouraging results, which manager Mauricio Pochettino can point to as they continue their long and difficult journey toward returning to the top.
Despite their easy victory over Burnley last week, Thomas Frank’s Brentford have struggled this season to be much more than an uneven mid-table squad due to injury and Ivan Toney’s absence.
Match Preview
Chelsea led by two goals going into the last quarter of an hour thanks to goals from Cole Palmer and Mykhaylo Mudryk, who produced an impressive effort.
But in the 77th minute, Declan Rice gave Arsenal a hope back into the match when he curled Robert Sanchez’s careless pass past the Spaniard as the Gunners started their comeback against Chelsea.
However, under Mauricio Pochettino, the club has improved recently; in their last three Premier League games, they have scored eight goals and collected more points (seven) than they have in their previous nine games.
And Pochettino’s men hope to improve both their home record and record against other London clubs when they play Brentford on Saturday.
No team in the history of the division has ever won three successive games at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, but Brentford will fancy their chances of beating the Blues thrice in a row.
Chelsea vs Brentford Team News
After his most recent recovery from injury, Reece James will look to return to Chelsea’s starting lineup after making a brief appearance off the bench in the draw with Arsenal.
Benoit Badiashile is hoping to rejoin the team, and Nicolas Jackson and Axel Disasi may also join him. Given that Marc Cucurella might be replaced by Levi Colwill at left back, that will present a defensive dilemma for Pochettino.
Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Christopher Nkunku, Romeo Lavia, and Christopher Nkunku are still on the long-term absentee list of Chelsea.
Ben Mee is eager to make a comeback against Chelsea as he was able to start for Brentford last time out from the bench.
Brentford’s Rico Henry, Josh Dasilva, Kevin Shade, and Keane Lewis-Potter won’t be playing. The good news for Brentford is that Aaron Hickey has returned from a ban.
Probable Line-Up
Chelsea probable starting lineup:
Sanchez; Gusto, Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Fernandez, Caicedo, Gallagher; Palmer, Sterling, Mudryk
Brentford probable starting lineup:
Flekken; Collins, Mee, Pinnock; Roerslev, Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt, Hickey; Mbeumo, Wissa
Chelsea vs Brentford Prediction
With all due respect to their opponents, Pochettino is finally starting to build some momentum around the Blues, and the Brentford game is one of the games they will need to win to keep it going.
Even if they manage to score, Brentford may find it difficult to hold on as they haven’t played at their best this season.
Futballnews predicts that Chelsea will defeat Brentford 2-1 in the Saturday afternoon match.
