Brentford meet Premier League rivals, West Ham in a London derby in Third Round of 2022-23 FA Cup.
Victory would see Brentford avoid a Third Round exit for a fifth consecutive season, whilst West Ham are looking to reach the Fourth Round for a sixth consecutive season.
Team News
Ivan Toney remains ruled out for Brentford after he missed their Premier League victory against Liverpool with a muscle injury, which he coincidentally picked up in the Bees’ final league match of 2022 against their FA Cup opposition.
Kristoffer Ajer (knee) is a doubt but Pontus Jansson likely won’t be risked due to a hamstring injury.
New signing, Kevin Schade could be in line for his Bees debut in this match.
Aaron Hickey (ankle), Frank Onyeka (hamstring) and Shandon Baptiste (adductor) remain absent
West Ham could be without Vladimir Coufal after he suffered a knock during West Ham’s 2-2 draw at Leeds in midweek.
Maxwel Cornet (calf) and Kurt Zouma (knee) both remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Brentford’s tie against West Ham at Gtech Community Stadium will take place at 5:30pm GMT on Saturday 7 January, albeit untelevised in UK.
Stat Attack
- Brentford are unbeaten in two previous FA Cup meetings against West Ham across one tie (W1, D1).
- West Ham lost 2-0 in their previous away FA Cup visit to Brentford, albeit at the Bees’ former home – Griffin Park.
- West Ham are yet to keep a clean sheet against Brentford in the FA Cup.
- Since their promotion to the Premier League last season, Brentford have lost two all top-flight ties in all cup competitions (L2) – during which they scored one goal and conceded six goals.
- West Ham are unbeaten in four of their last eight FA Cup ties against Premier League opposition excluding penalty shootouts (W2, D2, L4).
Prediction
Unbeaten in their last seven matches – excluding their Carabao Cup exit to Gillingham via a penalty shootouts, Brentford come into this match in strong form especially after a clinical league win against Liverpool where they executed their chances well and defended resolutely.
West Ham meanwhile found themselves in a physical contest against Leeds where they took their chances well, yet were lucky to snatch a 2-2 draw although the biggest question lies around their fitness due to less recovery time than the Bees for this tie.
This competition though is the best realistic route into Europe next season for both teams so I do expect this tie will be taken seriously, but Brentford do seem like a team high on confidence and have beaten the Hammers just a week ago so it might be a case of deja vu but closer this time round.
Prediction: Brentford 2-1 West Ham
Result: Brentford 0-1 West Ham
Leave a Reply