Brentford welcome Crystal Palace to Gtech Community Stadium in a London derby.
If Brighton and Fulham draw in their meeting elsewhere, victory would see Brentford climb to sixth.
Palace meanwhile could go 11th with a win if Aston Villa lose elsewhere in the lunchtime kick-off.
Team News
Pontus Jansson remains ruled out for Brentford following his recovery from a hamstring injury, which had sidelined the defender in recent weeks.
Goalkeeper, Thomas Strakosha (ankle) and Frank Onyeka (hamstring) again remain unavailable, with the pair plus Jansson expected to return in early March.
Palace could welcome Joachim Andersen back into contention after he missed their last four matches with a calf injury.
Will Hughes (knock) and Wilfried Zaha (hamstring) are doubts but Chris Richards (back), Joel Ward (calf) and Nathan Ferguson (foot) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Brentford face Palace in a 3pm GMT kick-off at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday 18 February, albeit untelevised in UK.
Stat Attack
- Brentford have drawn all three of their previous Premier League meetings against Palace (D3).
- Palace drew 0-0 in their only previous Premier League trip to Brentford in February 2022 (D1).
- Two of the three previous Premier League meetings between Brentford and Palace ended 0-0.
- Brentford are winless in four London derbies at home in all competitions this season (D2, L2).
- Palace have won just one of their two London derbies away from Selhurst Park so far this season (W1, L1).
Prediction
Having only come up to the Premier League last season, Brentford are currently unbeaten in 10 matches which is no fluke because they’ve genuinely played some excellent football during this run which was absolutely evident in their attacking intensity at Arsenal last weekend.
Their end product though was often wasteful but with a slice of luck, they did earn a deserved draw for their efforts despite a brief defensive error which allowed Arsenal to take the lead, so I do expect them to show more of the same here if can continue their momentum.
Palace meanwhile were lucky to draw against Brighton because they were outclassed yet ultimately capitalised on a crucial error, although I do expect it to again be back to the walls for Patrick Vieira’s Eagles defensively.
Thomas Frank’s Bees though are yet to win a London derby at home this season but if they play like they did last weekend, I can see that duck ending here but Palace will look to make it as difficult as they can despite their dip in form since 2023 arrived.
Prediction: Brentford 2-1 Crystal Palace
Result: Brentford 1-1 Crystal Palace
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