Brentford entertain Chelsea at Gtech Community Stadium in a West London derby.
Victory coupled with results elsewhere swinging in their favour could see Brentford move up to as high as 13th position in the table, whilst Chelsea can climb to ninth if Wolves lose to Newcastle.
Team News
Ben Mee is ruled out for Brentford after he suffered an ankle injury during their defeat at West Ham.
Aaron Hickey (hamstring), Josh Dasilva, Rico Henry (both knee), Kevin Schade (adductor), Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbeumo (both ankle) remain absent.
Chelsea will be without Christopher Nkunku after he missed their midweek FA Cup victory over Leeds with an unspecified injury.
Thiago Silva could return after he missed the Blues’ last three games with a groin injury.
Benoit Badiashile (groin), Marc Cucurella (ankle), Reece James, Lesley Ugochukwu (both hamstring), Wesley Fofana (ACL), Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) and Romeo Lavia (knock) remain ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Brentford host Chelsea at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday 2 March at 3pm GMT, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Brentford are unbeaten in four of their five Premier League meetings against Chelsea (W3, D1, L1).
- Chelsea are yet to lose away to Brentford in the Premier League (W1, D1)
- Brentford have kept clean sheets in their last three meetings against Chelsea (W2, D1).
- Thomas Frank’s Bees have lost one of four London derbies at home this season in the top-flight (W1, D2, L1).
- Chelsea have won three of their four London derbies on the road this season (W3, L1).
Prediction
Defence seems to be Brentford’s Achilles heel this season because their defending has been very unpredictable from resilient displays against teams like Manchester City to sloppy basic mistake-strewn performance like the one saw at West Ham.
I therefore am scratching my head as to what sort of performance we could see here because there are goals and better results within this team, yet the defensive aspect has been so inconsistent that it is really frustrating especially after last season’s campaign.
Chelsea meanwhile aren’t much better defensively before any Blues fan start having their penny worth with two sloppy goals conceded against Leeds, but they are strong from an attacking perspective although fatigue might play a part after two physical games plus this match in six days.
My instinct says that Chelsea should win this if their attack is at its best but a draw does feel the more likely given the defensive fragilities within both teams.
Prediction: Brentford 1-1 Chelsea
Result: Brentford 2-2 Chelsea
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