Brentford take on Crystal Palace on Saturday (3pm kick-off) in a game that has yet to produce a winner between the two sides in the Premier League so far.
All five fixtures between Thomas Frank's team and the Eagles have ended in low-scoring ties with the stats suggesting we may see a similar outcome on Saturday.
Brentford are looking to bounce back from a 4-1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out, while Palace fell to a late loss at Chelsea on Wednesday night.
Pre-match analysis
Richard Cole, Playmaker Stats: Brentford could capitalise on Palace’s Selhurst Park struggles
Not a single goal was scored in 180 minutes (plus stoppage-time) between Brentford and Crystal Palace in the 2021/22 season while last year saw both games end 1-1.
Rewind to August at Gtech Community Stadium and you get another 1-1 draw with Kevin Schade's first Bees goal cancelled out late on by Joachim Andersen.
This time, Selhurst Park will be the venue but it's a stadium in which local fans have yet to see the best of their team so far this season.
Roy Hodgson's side have the second-worst home record in the Premier League, winning just once while losing five of their nine fixtures there. And for that solitary home win you'd have to go back to early September when Crystal Palace won 3-2 against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In fact, only Burnley (who have just three home points) have been less productive at home than Palace (six points) so far this season.
Palace's primary problem has been goals, or the lack of them. Only Sheffield United (15) and Burnley (18) have scored fewer (15) than Crystal Palace in the Premier League (19).
When you break it down into home goals then the record looks far worse for Brentford's upcoming opponents. Of those nine games at Selhurst Park, the Eagles have found the net just eight times – the worst home scoring record in the Premier League.
But while Palace haven't been their best at Selhurst Park, Brentford have similar struggles on the road.
In eight away league games, the Bees have scored just eight goals – ranking them ahead of Sheffield United (5) and level with Burnley and Manchester United.
However, there are some brighter spots for Brentford. While Frank's side might not score as many goals as he would hope on their travels, they don't concede many either. Only the aforementioned Manchester United (9) and Arsenal (8) have let in fewer away goals than Brentford (10).
And of course, we also have to take into account how well Brentford usually do against fellow London sides. Both of the Bees' away victories have been in the capital: a 3-0 win at Craven Cottage in August as well as the customary victory at Stamford Bridge (2-0 in October).
Brentford then are in an ideal place to pick up more points on the road while Palace look to turn their home form around.
Failing that, we could have the potential of a sixth consecutive draw between the Eagles and the Bees.
Scout Report
Palace winless in eight ahead of Saturday's meeting
Crystal Palace got off to their usual solid, if unspectacular, start last season and were comfortably sat in mid-table by the time of the World Cup last November.
But after the break, they essentially ground to a halt. The Eagles returned with one league win in 13 games, scoring just six goals along the way, and were on a hiding to nothing by the time Patrick Vieira was sacked in mid-March, three points above the Premier League relegation zone.
“It is with enormous regret that this difficult decision has been made,” chair Steve Parish said in a statement. “Ultimately, results in recent months have placed us in a precarious league position and we felt a change is necessary to give us the best chance of retaining Premier League status.”
The perceived best course of action was to bring back the man he had replaced: Roy Hodgson.
It was an appointment met with mixed reactions, but Palace needed a figurehead with experience to lead the firefighting job - and few had a stronger CV or knowledge of the club to be able to succeed.
And succeed he did. Hodgson took over from Vieira on 21 March, during the final international break of the season, and then guided his side to three straight wins against fellow relegation candidates Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton.
From the final 10 games, Palace collected 18 points from the 30 on offer, which led them to 11th and an 11-point gap to the bottom three.
The job Hodgson did was so good that it came as no surprise when he was handed a one-year deal in July.
But after overcoming that challenge, he was presented with an even trickier one. For the first time in the best part of a decade, Palace did not have talisman Wilfried Zaha to lead them. His departure to Galatasaray on a free transfer, after a protracted will-he-won’t-he contract saga, left a significant hole in the squad.
Brazil Under-20s starlet Matheus Franca was signed from Flamengo as a long-term replacement, but it was a big ask for the 19-year-old to fill such esteemed boots, so much so that he has only managed 40 minutes in the league so far.
The season started reasonably well, with Palace as high as ninth after three wins – including one over Manchester United at Old Trafford - and three draws in the opening eight games, but they have really laboured since the end of the October international break.
Palace have lost seven of their last 11 games and are on a run of eight games without a win ahead of Saturday’s match. What’s more, they have conceded the first goal in 25 matches in 25 Premier League games in 2023, which is the most of any side, and are underperforming in terms of xG (25.52 v 19 actual) and xPTS (23.2 v 18 actual).
“I’m not frightened to death of the relegation zone as it doesn’t matter to me at this stage of the season,” said Hodgson after the defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday. “This team and the way we’ve played in the last four games gives me great hope and heart for the future.”
Ahead of the game that almost always ends in a draw, it seems the stakes are little higher than they have been before.
In the Dugout
Roy Hodgson
At the start of January, having turned 76 in August, Roy Hodgson - the Premier League’s oldest-ever manager – will prolong his long and vibrant managerial career into a 48th year.
He started out as a player at Crystal Palace and played as a non-league defender for a decade, but was already coaching in his mid-20s and took his first job at Halmstads before his 30th birthday.
Much of the next 10 years was spent in Sweden, before two years at Neuchatel Xamax in Switzerland, three years as Switzerland national team manager and another two at Inter Milan, whom he led to the UEFA Cup final in 1997.
Hodgson had spent time at Bristol City and Blackburn earlier in his career, but he established himself in England when he was appointed Fulham - as Lawrie Sanchez’s successor – in 2007, saving the Cottagers from relegation within his first five months, a seventh-place finish in 2008/09 and the Europa League final in his last season, before joining Liverpool a matter of weeks after they lost to Atletico Madrid in Hamburg.
After 13 wins in 31 games, he was sacked by the Reds in January 2011 and, after 14 months at West Bromwich Albion, became England manager. Despite a near-60 per cent win ratio, his time as Three Lions boss will be remembered for a miserable World Cup in 2014 and then being knocked out by Iceland in the last 16 at Euro 2016.
Crystal Palace came calling in 2017 and he returned after more than half a century away, He spent four seasons back at Selhurst Park before leaving in May 2021, yet not shutting the door on a return to management.
In May 2022 - after a four-month spell at Watford that ended in relegation - Hodgson said he would not be seeking another Premier League job, but by March of this year, he had returned for a second spell in south London.
The Gameplan
With Edmund Brack of South London Press
Edmund Brack, Crystal Palace reporter for South London Press, explains how Roy Hodgson is likely to set up his side at Selhurst Park:
“In terms of formation, it will be a 4-1-2-3, but it switches to a 4-5-1 in defence.
“Eze recovered from ankle ligament damage he picked up against Luton in a swifter manner than he thought, so he and Olise should be starting Premier League games consistently by this meeting.
“The real battle will be between Edouard and Mateta. The latter has found some real form in front of goal of late and delivered, arguably, one of his best performances in a Palace shirt against Manchester City, so there is no guarantee that Edouard will come back into the starting line-up.
“It is the same with the goalkeeping position as well; Dean Henderson was phenomenal against City and possession is going to be nine-tenths of the law when it comes to that no.1 shirt.
“I do not think either he or Sam Johnstone are going to lose it because of poor performances; it will be purely down to injuries. At the moment, it is Henderson’s to lose.”
Read the full interview with Edmund Brack here
Team News
Baptiste to be assessed
Brentford have no fresh injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace.
And some first-team players could return soon, head coach Thomas Frank revealed at his pre-match press conference.
Shandon Baptiste missed Wednesday night’s defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers with a “minor foot injury” and is being assessed ahead of the weekend.
Fellow midfielder Josh Dasilva is likely to feature next Friday, when Brentford welcome Wolves to Gtech Community Stadium for the third round of the Emirates FA Cup, while defender Kristoffer Ajer “could be available” for the Bees’ game against Nottingham Forest on 20 January.
The Bees boss also confirmed that Aaron Hickey and Kevin Schade “are not in the picture for the next month.”
Midfielder Frank Onyeka is available for Saturday’s game against Palace having served a one-match suspension.
Match Officials
Jones handed second Bees assignment of the season
Referee: Robert Jones
Assistants: Steven Meredith and Wade Smith
Fourth official: Darren Bond
Video assistant referee: John Brooks
Robert Jones joined the Select Group 2 in 2017 before progressing to Select Group 1 ahead of the 2020/21 season.
The Merseyside official’s first Championship assignment was Brentford’s trip to Barnsley in April 2017.
Jones has refereed 19 games this season – including the Bees’ 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on the opening day – showing 85 yellow cards and four reds.
Last Meeting
Brentford 1 Crystal Palace 1 (Premier League, 26 August 2023)
Kevin Schade scored a spectacular first Premier League goal as Brentford and Crystal Palace shared the spoils at Gtech Community Stadium.
The 21-year-old’s solo effort gave the Bees a deserved lead at the break against their south London rivals. But Palace improved after the restart and got the leveller their second-half performance deserved through Joachim Andersen 14 minutes from time.
The result meant Brentford and Crystal Palace became the first teams in Premier League history to draw their first five meetings in the competition.