Brentford begin life in the Brentford Community Stadium as they welcome Wycombe Wanderers in the final First Round match of this season’s Carabao Cup.
Neither teams have enjoyed much success in this competition in recent years as Wycombe become the first team to take on Brentford in the Bees’ new home as they look to begin their new chapter on a high.
Team News
Patrik Gunnarsson is one of seven Brentford players including; Josh Dasilva, Henrik Dalsgaard, Pontus Jansson, Luka Racic, Christian Norgaard and Bryan Mbeumo who are ruled out of this match through international duty.
Wycombe have no fresh injury concerns to report with a full squad available for selection, as Uche Ikpeazu, Daryl Horgan and Ryan Tafazoli all look to make their Wanderers debut.
Stat Attack
- This is the first-ever Carabao Cup meeting between Brentford and Wycombe Wanderers.
- Brentford have won two of four previous domestic cup meetings against Wycombe (W2, L2).
- Wycombe have advanced from this round in just two of last 13 seasons since reaching the semi-finals of 2006-07 tournament.
- Brentford have advanced from this stage in just two of their last five seasons.
- This is the first ever competitive match to be played at the Brentford Community Stadium.
Prediction
Recent seasons have often seen the losing Championship Play-Off finalists of the previous season begin their new campaign with a league clash but due to Coronavirus, Brentford find themselves with a great new season bounce back opportunity in a cup tie even if they are without several first-team regulars and in a new home stadium which will be a challenge to adapt to without fans present.
Wycombe meanwhile are facing their first taste of Championship opposition ahead of the league campaign starting next weekend, which offers a chance for the Chairboys to make an early impression, even though their recent record in this competition is just as dire as Brentford’s opening round performance rate.
I therefore am expecting a tough game because Wycombe know that Brentford will likely be hurting from Wembley still on top of losing key players to international duty, whereas the Bees will want to instantly lay their marker at their new home with Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma still available which could well be the difference here if they can deliver.
Prediction: Brentford 2-1 Wycombe Wanderers
Result: Brentford 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers (Brentford win 4-2 on penalties)