Brentford vs Chelsea Predicted Lineups

Brentford came in to the season as prime relegation candidates after losing their star duo of Mbeumo and Wissa as well as the main man who had lead the club brilliantly over the last 7 years, Thomas Frank. It is difficult for any mid-table club to maintain their performance levels after losing the 3 most important assets the club has. Things got off to a shaky start, suffering a 3-1 loss away from home to Nottingham Forest on the opening weekend of the season, but Brentford and new Manager Keith Andrews picked up a huge win over struggling Aston Villa. The Bees weren’t able to follow that up, suffering a loss to fellow relegation candidates Sunderland – potentially a 6 point swing in the fight to stay up. Despite 2 losses, getting a win already, and avoiding being one of the teams entering GW4 without a win, is a solid start for Brentford as they look to cause an upset this weekend.

The Club World Cup Champions Chelsea, sit 2nd in the league after 3 games, with 2 wins and a draw. They started the season off with a drab draw to fellow Londoners Crystal Palace, and talks of a title charge were dampened. Things started off poorly against West Ham going 1-0 down, but they then went on to score 5 goals in a 1-5 route of the Hammers without Cole Palmer, who picked up an injury in the warm-up. They followed that up with a controversial win over Fulham where a Josh King opener was disallowed for no real reason exactly, VAR just decided it wanted to play a big role in this game I suppose.

This is a fourth game in a row for Chelsea facing London clubs, and currently sitting 2nd, having had the easiest schedule of the main four potential title contenders, picking up 3 points against a relegation candidate in Brentford is a must. Brentford have a few threats in Damsgaard, Outtara and Schade, but Chelsea, with or without Palmer should really dominate proceedings when it comes to possession and chance creation, and look to come away with an easy win.

 

Lineups will be updated throughout the week in live time as and when injury and lineup news is announced.

Green Light: Confident the player will start.

Amber Light: A toss up on whether the player will start.

Red Light: Confident the player will not start.

To head back to our main predicted lineups hub, click here.

 

Brentford Predicted Lineup:

Brentford Team News:

It is safe to expect an unchanged starting lineup for Brentford despite a 2-1 loss to Sunderland in GW3. The back-5 is set in stone except the left-back position, where Lewis-Potter started over Rico Henry for the first time this season and played well. Lewis-Potter likely starts again in GW4 but it’s one to watch.

With Janelt still out injured, there are 2 midfield spots for Yarmoliuk, Henderson and Jensen. Yarmoliuk seems to be a guaranteed starter, and Henderson partnered him in GW3 so he most likely does again. Damsgaard is Brentford’s most important player and will start near enough every game when fit. The front-3 also feels very set in stone right now with Schade, Outtara and Thiago. Carvalho is probably the understudy for both wing positions as well as for Damsgaard playing as a 10.

Brentford Players to Watch:

Lewis-Potter:

Henderson:

Henry:

Carvalho:

Chelsea Predicted Lineup:

Chelsea Team News:

Palmer will be in a race to be fit for GW4. Maresca, speaking on Friday revealed “Cole took part in the session yesterday for the first time. Not the entire session. We have one more session, we are going to try with him. We will see if it is okay. Otherwise, he will be out again tomorrow.” The injury was not thought to be a long-term one, but he did miss Chelsea’s last 2 league games and then England international duty to recover from this injury. The expectation from Palmer is clearly that he will be fit and available for Brentford, as he posted a picture of himself against Palace, with the caption “soon back”. Soft tissue injuries are tricky and just because Palmer wants to start, that does not mean he will be cleared to do so. I lean towards Palmer missing one more game and returning in GW5. Enzo is the most likely player to play in the 10 role that Palmer vacates, and Reece James joins Caicedo playing deeper in midfield.

Liam Delap left the game against Fulham with a hamstring injury. Delap did not need surgery on his hamstring. Maresca informed the media that “Liam is around 10 to 12 weeks. Long way to go!”. A lengthy layoff for Delap. In terms of who might start as the striker for Chelsea this weekend, Maresca said “For us, the only number nine is Guiu and Joao (Pedro) can play there and against Fulham we used Ty (George).” While he mentions Guiu and George, Joao Pedro will start up-front.

Tosin and Chalobah should continue to be the starting centre-back pairing despite Acheampong’s impressive debut in GW1. Lavia was spotted training on grass after his lengthy layout that began during the Club World Cup, and is likely ramping up slowly. He will not feature in GW4.

Maresca spoke about Garnacho, saying “He is working well. For sure, he needs to work. He arrived not 100 per cent fit. He needs to work and is working well. We will see. Hopefully soon we can give him minutes”, so clearly the Argentinian is close but won’t feature against Brentford. It’s possible he makes the bench in GW5.

Chelsea Players to Watch:

James:

Estevao:

Palmer:

Delap:

Final Thoughts:

Chelsea, despite potentially missing Palmer and Delap, will stick with their 4-2-1-3 system. Enzo may have to shift forward to play in the 10 with Reece James moving in to midfield, but Chelsea are still the strong favourites to come out of the game with 3 points despite missing their top talisman. Brentford only had 23% possession in their win over Villa and then 45% in their loss in GW3 to Sunderland, so against Chelsea they are likely to have very little of the ball. They will look to sit deep in a compact shape, and defend doggedly and hit Chelsea on the counter with players like Damsgaard and Schade who are very capable of hurting teams in transition. Whatever plan Keith Andrews does come up with to play foil to Chelsea, the Blues will likely have too much for Brentford and should emerge victorious.