Brentford face Championship side Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough Stadium in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off GMT).
The Bees will be looking to arrest a run of three successive seasons where they have been knocked out at this stage, while the tie provides a break from the second-tier relegation battle for the Owls, who are currently on -7 points following two separate points deductions.
Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the game.
Pre-match analysis
Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: Stalwart still the Owls' main man
The relentless fixture list over the Christmas and New Year period can stretch any squad - but Brentford's FA Cup third round opponents Sheffield Wednesday have been hit harder than most.
Currently in administration, the Owls saw 16 members of their first-team squad depart over the summer, leaving head coach Henrik Pedersen to juggle a threadbare group across the festive schedule. The former Bolton striker has been forced to lean heavily on youth, naming just five players over the age of 23 in the matchday squad for Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat to QPR last weekend.
At the midway point of a challenging 2025/26 campaign, Wednesday sit bottom of the Championship on -7 points, having been hit with a total of 18 points’ worth of deductions due to off-field financial issues.
With just one league win to their name all season, the Owls have found themselves swimming against the tide - but they remain competitive under Pedersen, and the three-time FA Cup winners will target an upset against Keith Andrews’ in-form Bees at Hillsborough.
Compounded by their stretched resources, Wednesday have struggled at both ends of the pitch this term. They are the Championship’s lowest scorers with 18 goals - only seven of which have come on home soil - and have also conceded more goals (51) than any other side in the division.
It is worth noting that half of Wednesday’s goals this season have arrived within the opening 30 minutes of matches, although that early threat has been offset by the league-high 15 goals they have conceded during the same period.
Saturday’s hosts have faced an average of 15.6 shots per game from Championship opposition so far this season, and Pedersen will be keen to see his side tighten up against a Brentford team adept at carving out high-probability shooting opportunities.
Under Andrews, Brentford continue to favour quality over quantity in the final third. Their xG per shot of 0.18 is currently the highest across UEFA’s top five leagues, while the Bees have also taken their efforts from closer (15 yards on average) than any of their Premier League peers this season. Brentford also attempt fewer shots from outside the box (2.3 per game) than any other top-flight side.
After the Bees’ 3-0 midweek win over Sunderland, Playmaker’s analysis focused on Vitaly Janelt, who enters this weekend’s cup clash with four assists in his last five appearances - but Sheffield Wednesday can point to a creative influence of their own.
Now in his 11th season at Hillsborough, 36-year-old Barry Bannan has consistently ranked among the EFL’s most inventive midfielders. True to form, the Scotland international sits fifth in the Championship for key passes this season, with 49.
Fifth in the Premier League and unbeaten so far in 2026, Brentford travel to Hillsborough as clear favourites.
The FA Cup is famously no respecter of league form, however, and Andrews’ squad will not underestimate their lower-ranked hosts.
Scout report
Dan Long, Sky Sports: The silver lining for Wednesday
This season has been one like no other for Sheffield Wednesday - and not for a single good reason whatsoever.
The full, miserable tale is one that will no doubt be immortalised in the pages of a book one day.
At any other club, the campaign after the one where they finished 12th, only 10 points off the play-offs, would have been one of growth. But for Wednesday, the summer and the opening two months of the season were dominated by EFL charges, unpaid wages, countless transfer bans and protests against owner Dejphon Chansiri as a result.
Danny Röhl - widely praised for the job he had done at Hillsborough in testing circumstances - left by mutual consent less than a fortnight before the first game of the season, following key players Josh Windass and Michael Smith out of the door.
There was also the threat of a winding up order in mid-October and, within days, a boycott for the home game against Middlesbrough was staged, with just 7,081 spectators in attendance.
Then came a resolution of sorts - on 24 October, the club went into administration. In a statement, the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust called it "one of the most bittersweet days in our club's proud 158-year history." Chansiri was gone, but a 12-point deduction was imposed as a result.
Wednesday's threadbare squad, made up of a handful of experienced pros, academy prospects prematurely thrust into the limelight and club legends Barry Bannan and Liam Palmer - who have made almost 1,000 appearances for the club between them - were already bottom after one win from 11 at that point, but the deduction cut them adrift, 15 points from safety.
Another six-point deduction was handed down on 1 December, which extended the gap to 21st to an essentially unassailable 27 points.
Under Henrik Pedersen, the Owls are doing their level best to limit the damage, but it is barely making a dent. They have taken just five points from the last 14, though two came from draws against promotion-chasing Watford and Hull. They remain on -7 points at present, with the gap now 32 points with 21 league games left to play.
Barring a miracle - the like we have never seen before - Sheffield Wednesday will be playing League One football next season.
The silver lining is that, all being well, they will have a new owner in place by then and the task of getting the Owls back on the right track will be under way. Less than six months ago, that was but a pipe dream.
In the Dugout
Henrik Pedersen
Henrik Pedersen started out in youth coaching in his native Denmark, before he made his name as a coach during a six-year spell at Red Bull. During his time there, he coached the now-defunct Red Bull Ghana, as well as Red Bull Salzburg's youth teams and, according to his bio on Sheffield Wednesday's official website, "held a central role in forming a footballing philosophy for the entire Red Bull group."
In July 2014, he took on his first senior management role with HB Køge in the Danish second tier. His side finished seventh in 2014/15, but he left by mutual consent just before Christmas 2015, after 18 months in charge.
Pedersen spent time as assistant to Jens Keller at Union Berlin between 2016 and 2017, then took on the job at Eintracht Braunschweig, but lasted just over four months there.
Eight months later, he joined Strømsgodset in Norway and stayed until April 2021, before he returned to Denmark with Vendsyssel. There, he led the club to eighth and fifth-placed finishes in the second tier, before leaving to become assistant to Danny Röhl at Sheffield Wednesday on 20 October 2023.
He helped the club survive relegation from the Championship by three points in 2023/24, then to within 10 points of the play-offs in 2024/25. Two days after Röhl departed by mutual consent on 29 July 2025, Pedersen was appointed as his successor.
Team news
Donovan and Nelson in contention
Keith Andrews provided an update on his side ahead of Saturday's FA Cup tie, revealing Romelle Donovan and Reiss Nelson are in contention while Dango Ouattara will not be involved.
“We took the League Cup really seriously, we got to the quarter-finals and were beaten by Manchester City, and the same approach will be taken towards the FA Cup. It’s a competition I have a lot of love for," said Andrews.
“Dango won’t be involved in this one; I’ve given him an extra couple of days off because he’s been pretty full on in his endeavours with Burkina Faso. We’ll get him back in and involved ahead of the Chelsea game."
Andrews added: “Romelle’s definitely in contention. He’s training really well in the main, and I like a lot of his qualities. He’s probably been a little bit unlucky not to get Premier League minutes. I anticipate Romelle getting some minutes at the weekend.
“Reiss has come back from a knock during the December period. He’s come back into the fold and probably hasn’t been ready to start games, but he’s edging closer with the minutes he’s been getting. Reiss will certainly be involved at the weekend.”
Josh Dasilva (knee ligament) remains sidelined, while Fábio Carvalho and Antoni Milambo will both miss the rest of the campaign due to ACL injuries.
Frank Onyeka is unavailable due to his involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria.
The Gameplan
With Andy Giddings, BBC Radio Sheffield
Andy Giddings of BBC Radio Sheffield has explained how the Owls are likely to set up for Saturday's FA Cup tie at Hillsborough.
"Intriguingly, at Queens Park Rangers, it was more of a back five, and I wouldn't be surprised if that continued again, though that may well shift should Yan Valery be back from the Africa Cup of Nations," he told us earlier this week.
"Who plays in the left wing-back role? There is a question mark over that given Harry Amass is currently scheduled to return to Manchester United.
"But from an attacking perspective, there really has not been a great deal going forward.
"So, it will be a tactical battle where Sheffield Wednesday will try and defend for as long as they possibly can and stay in the game for as long as they possibly can in the hope of nicking something.
"It will not be anything like just attack, see how you get on, there is nothing to lose type performance, because that is just not how they are going about it."
Last Championship starting XI v Queens Park Rangers (3-4-2-1): Charles; Iorfa, Otegbayo, McGhee; Fusire, Thornton, Bannan, Amass; Cadamarteri, McNeill; Jamal Lowe
Match Officials
Smith to referee FA Cup clash
Referee: Josh Smith
Assistants: Sam Lewis and George Byrne
Fourth Official: David Webb
Josh Smith will referee his third Brentford game when he takes charge of Saturday's FA Cup tie at Hillsborough Stadium.
He previously oversaw home Premier League wins against Burnley and Southampton in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons, respectively.
In this 16 fixtures Smith has had the whistle for this term across the Championship, League One and the Carabao Cup, he has dished out 58 yellow cards and two reds.
There will be no VAR for this match.
Last meeting
Brentford 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1 (5-4), (Carabao Cup, 29 October 2024)
Brentford progressed to the quarter-final of last season's Carabao Cup following a penalty shoot-out win against Sheffield Wednesday.
Kevin Schade latched onto a ball over the top of the defence from Keane Lewis-Potter before finishing to open the scoring and his account for the 2024/25 campaign.
The Bees dominated the remainder of the first half without adding a second, and a long-range strike from Djeidi Gassama took the game to penalties.
Bryan Mbeumo, Lewis-Potter, Mikkel Damsgaard, Yoane Wissa and Vitaly Janelt all converted from 12 yards before Mark Flekken saved Liam Palmer's spot-kick to win the tie.