Brentford will travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday with confidence, having beaten Burnley 3-0 last weekend and won on their last two visits to Chelsea.
The Bees' victories at the Bridge came against two very different Chelsea teams. The first of those was an impressive 4-1 victory in April 2022 with Vitaly Janelt scoring twice against an almost unrecognisable team then managed by Thomas Tuchel.
Just two players from Chelsea’s squad that day are currently still at the club: Thiago Silva and Reece James, which shows just how much the Blues have changed since then.
The most recent visit was in April of this year against a team then led by Frank Lampard. The Chelsea squad was a little bit more familiar looking then but the Bees were still victorious thanks to an own goal and then Bryan Mbeumo wrapping up the points late on.
While the Blues team from that game is more recognisable compared to the one today, under Mauricio Pochettino they now present a very different challenge for Thomas Frank’s team.
Pre-match Analysis
Richard Cole, Playmaker Stats: Brentford must pick their moments to play against a possession-hungry Chelsea side
When it comes to controlling the ball, Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea are behind only Manchester City.
Saturday’s opponents have had on average 61 per cent possession this season (behind City’s 63 per cent) while Chelsea’s 5,382 completed passes are short only of City’s 5,866.
Pochettino seems to have at last got a song out of Mykhaylo Mudryk while Raheem Sterling is returning to form – the English forward is third for progressive carries (50) this season behind only Kaoru Mitoma (54) and Dejan Kulusevski (55).
One of the many new signings, Cole Palmer has also impressed. As well as getting the best of team-mate Sterling to decide who should have taken their penalty early into their 2-2 draw against Arsenal last week, the former Manchester City man is one of the top players for shot-creating actions per 90 minutes this season with an average of 4.98 per 90 (making him the 11th highest in the division).
But there will be ways for Brentford to make it three wins at the Bridge on the bounce. Despite improvements, Chelsea have surprisingly made the most unsuccessful touches this season in the Premier League with 163 in total.
It may also be a good idea to have a high defensive line considering no other team has been caught offside as much as Chelsea (who have been flagged 27 times in total).
Brentford can also expect little in the way of aerial threat from the Blues considering Chelsea have yet to score a headed goal this season and have only had 12 headed efforts in total – the joint-lowest in the league. At the other end of the spectrum, the Bees meanwhile have had 31 headed attempts behind only Luton Town on 35.
Should Brentford earn another win against Chelsea this weekend then it would add to the Bees’ impressive record in London derbies away from home.
Since the start of the 2021/22 season, Frank’s team have taken 20 from a possible 33 points from their trips around the capital.
Scout Report
Pochettino calls for patience after Chelsea’s mixed start to the Premier League campaign
Chelsea’s 2022/23 season did not go to plan.
Only once since the 1996/97 season had they finished outside the top half in the Premier League. Sixth place in 2011/12 was uncharacteristic; 12th was unheard of - but that’s exactly what happened last term.
After purchasing the club from Roman Abramovich, one of the first major decisions made by new owner, US businessman Todd Boehly, was to dismiss the popular Thomas Tuchel.
The Blues had spent £272 million to overhaul the squad, yet when that did not equal immediate success – they won three, lost two and drew one of the opening six league games – the German was ousted. It was later claimed off-field issues were a contributing factor.
The following day, 8 September, Graham Potter left Brighton to take over at Stamford Bridge. “He is a proven coach and innovator in the Premier League who fits our vision for the club,” said Boehly. “Not only is he extremely talented on the pitch, he has skills and capabilities that extend beyond the pitch, which will make Chelsea a more successful club.”
Under Abramovich, Chelsea gained a reputation for their quick disposal of managers. These words were filled with the hope and promise that suggested those ruthless days might have been over.
Potter won his first three Premier League games in succession, but the familiar inconsistency soon returned.
The Champions League provided welcome relief, but his side exited the FA Cup and Carabao Cup at the third-round stage and were slap bang in mid-table by January. Boehly felt the best course of action was to spend in excess of £300 million.
That didn’t work either and, on 2 April, Potter followed Tuchel out of the door after three wins from 12 at the start of the year. “Graham has always conducted himself with professionalism and integrity and we are all disappointed in this outcome,” said Boehly and co-owner Behdad Eghbali.
Frank Lampard then took over as caretaker, but that return was as far from a fairytale as one can imagine. One win from 11 games was as good as it got for the Blues legend before his temporary spell came to an end.
And so in came the third permanent boss in 12 months: Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine, who has plenty of Premier League experience from spells at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur, was appointed after what the ownership called “a diligent and thoughtful process that the board is proud of”. Even in the cut-throat world of management, it appears this is the sign he will be given sufficient time to implement his ideas.
It’s a good job, too, because Chelsea have not started in the best fashion this year, either. In fact, with three wins, three draws and three defeats, it could not have been a more perfect mix of results. Not ideal, really, given they shelled out another £400 million in the summer, taking the outlay since Boehly’s takeover to over £1 billion.
In the opening two months, it seemed it boiled down to lacking a killer instinct. Chelsea drew 1-1 with Liverpool, 0-0 with Bournemouth and lost out by the odd goal at home to Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa; the 3-1 defeat away at West Ham United was their sixth defeat in their last 11 trips across the capital.
But, this month, something seems to have clicked into place – somewhat, at least.
Pochettino’s side started with a 2-0 west London derby win over Fulham, then, inspired by the unplayable Raheem Sterling, they followed it up with a thumping 4-1 win at Burnley. They took a 2-0 lead against Arsenal last time out, too, but couldn’t hold off the unbeaten title contenders in the end, having to settle for a 2-2 draw.
“It’s a massive job,” said Pochettino after the win at Craven Cottage. “It’s step-by-step; very short steps. Sometimes people don’t have patience for us, but, for us, it’s about having patience.”
That’s the key word: patience. Chelsea will, eventually, be back to their best. It’s just going to be a gradual process.
In the Dugout
Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Pochettino made his senior debut for Newell’s Old Boys in his native Argentina aged 17 in 1989 and spent five years at the club – playing under future Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa – before moving across the Atlantic to Espanyol in 1994.
In Catalonia, he became a legend. The centre-back played more than 250 games across seven seasons for the Periquitos and won the Copa del Rey twice, but financial issues at the club around the turn of the millennium, shortly after Pochettino had agreed a pre-contract agreement at the club, meant they were unable to fund it and so he joined PSG in 2001, where he acted as a mentor to a young Mikel Arteta.
After two and a half years, he joined Bordeaux, but things did not go to plan and, after 16 appearances, he returned to Espanyol - initially on loan, then permanently – where he closed out his career in 2006 at the age of 34.
He later studied a sports management master’s degree and completed his coaching badges, but shortly after completing his UEFA Pro Licence, he returned to Espanyol for a third time when he was appointed as Ernesto Valverde’s successor. He had spent just shy of four years at the club when his contract was terminated by mutual consent in November 2012.
Pochettino made his name in England managing Southampton between January 2013 and May 2014.
After the completion of the 2013/14 Premier League campaign, he was appointed by Tottenham Hotspur.
As had been the case at Espanyol in his playing career, he became a legend in north London, not least for bringing a young Harry Kane into the first-team fold, but also for taking Spurs to their first Champions League final in 2019.
A disappointing start to the 2019/20 season led to his sacking after five and a half years and, after a year out of the game, he returned to another former club, PSG.
He lifted Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the Trophée des Champions during his second spell at the Parc des Princes.
The 51-year-old left in July 2022, only a year after signing a new two-year contract, and, after another year out of the game, joined Chelsea in May.
Team news
No fresh injury concerns for Frank
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has confirmed that the Bees have no fresh injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s game against Chelsea.
The Bees boss provided an update on Ben Mee, Shandon Baptiste, Josh Dasilva, Mikkel Damsgaard and Keane Lewis-Potter, who have all been absent in recent weeks.
“Available players, compared to last week, will be the same,” said Frank.
“Then of course I can choose to pick another line-up, although we played a very good game [against Burnley].
“Ben Mee is definitely getting closer. He is in full training and got some valuable minutes with the B team on Wednesday night, so he’s in a good place now.”
Frank added: “Shandon has been training with the team this week and is going in the right direction, so that’s very positive.
“Josh is on the grass, on one-to-one. [Damsgaard] is progressing in the gym as he should do. It’s not a muscle injury, so he can get on to the grass and then the team quicker [than Dasilva].
“Keane [calf] will have another scan next week. He will hopefully train on the grass in a week’s time.”
The Gameplan
With Joe Shread, football journalist at Sky Sports
Joe Shread, football journalist at Sky Sports, explains how Mauricio Pochettino is likely to set up his side on Saturday:
“He has settled on a 4-3-3 formation in recent weeks, a change that has helped Chelsea's form to improve.
“The switch allows [Conor] Gallagher and [Enzo] Fernández to operate in their preferred no.8 roles, with [Moisés] Caicedo as the holding midfielder.
“Unlike many of his recent predecessors, Pochettino likes to operate with a more traditional no.9 that makes runs in behind the opposition.
“However, Cole Palmer impressed as a false nine against Arsenal amid injuries to all of Chelsea's strikers.”
Read the full interview with Joe Shread here
Match Officials
Hooper handed Stamford Bridge clash
Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistants: Adrian Holmes and Simon Long
Fourth Official: Graham Scott
VAR: Craig Pawson
Experienced Wiltshire referee Simon Hooper, who tried to make it as a professional footballer in his youth, has taken charge of 26 Brentford games as both he and the Bees have worked their way up the divisions.
Hooper's first Brentford game came in October 2008 at Aldershot in League Two before seven Sky Bet League One assignments from 2009 to 2013 followed.
In the Sky Bet Championship, he was the man in charge for the Bees’ unforgettable 4-1 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage in April 2015 and also refereed the 1-0 win at home to Queens Park Rangers in October that same year.
Brentford have lost just twice in Hooper’s last 10 games in charge, six of which have come since promotion to the Premier League.
Last Meeting
Chelsea 0 Brentford 2 (Premier League, 26 April 2023)
A goal in each half saw Brentford win at Stamford Bridge for the second year running and ended a six-match winless Premier League run for Thomas Frank’s Bees.
Chelsea dominated possession but were undone by goals late in each half.
The first came when Cesar Azpilicueta turned Zanka’s near-post flick-on into his own net eight minutes before the break.
After soaking up Chelsea pressure for much of the second period, Brentford scored a classy counter-attacking goal through substitute Bryan Mbeumo to wrap up the points late on.
For all their pressure, Chelsea weren’t able to find a way through the Bees’ well-drilled backline as they suffered a fifth-straight league defeat under Frank Lampard.