Brentford will host Burnley with both teams on the wrong side of the Premier League table. In their most recent games, both teams had the lead but ultimately lost badly. The Bees were humiliated 2-1 at Manchester United, while the visitors were crushed 4-1 at Chelsea.
Preview (Brentford vs. Burnley)
Prior to their match at Old Trafford, neither Man United nor Brentford were particularly impressive. Thomas Frank’s defense was impenetrable to any Red Devils attacker. However, in the 87th minute, Erik ten Hag made his fifth and final replacement throw, bringing on Scott McTominay. The flying Scotsman scored two amazing injury-time goals to send Brentford to defeat.
Although McTominay’s header in the 97th minute wasn’t the most vicious attempt. It was enough to send the ball above Thomas Strakosha’s reach and create a frenzy. Brentford is currently above the drop zone. They are sitting in 15th place with just three points separating them from their 18th-placed opponents this weekend. They have not won in six straight Premier League games, drawing three and losing three of those matches.
Brentford hasn’t triumphed in a competitive match since defeating Newport County on penalties in August’s EFL Cup tie. They have scored goals in every Premier League game at the Gtech in 2023. They are among the five teams in the division that haven’t won at home this season. Burnley can relate to that. Burnley lost their sixth game of the season to Chelsea at Turf Moor a fortnight ago.
Ameen Al-Dakhil deflected the Englishman’s cross into his own net before winning a penalty that Cole Palmer converted, and the winger’s well-deserved goal arrived in the 65th minute to put the victory beyond doubt. Adding insult to injury for Vincent Kompany’s club, Nicolas Jackson’s late goal sealed their fate. Burnley’s debut season has been anything from easy. They are in the relegation zone in 18th place with just four points out of a possible 24.
Team News
Brentford defender Aaron Hickey received his fifth yellow card of the Premier League season with just ten minutes remaining in the match at Old Trafford. Hickey will serve a one-game suspension this weekend and will be placed on the naughty step alongside long-term absentee Toney. Rico Henry’s severe knee injury makes Frank’s full-back situation much more difficult, therefore this weekend, Kristopher Ajer might be used on the right side of the backline while Mads Roerslev moves to the left flank. Josh Dasilva (hamstring), Shandon Baptiste (shoulder), Mikkel Damsgaard (knee), and Kevin Schade (groin) will also not be included. Ben Mee, a former Burnley player, and Keane Lewis-Potter (calf) are also questionable, but first-choice goalkeeper Mark Flekken ought to have recovered from illness in time to replace Strakosha.
Michael Obafemi is still recovering from hamstring surgery, so the Burnley physiotherapists have a lot of injured players to tend to. However, the other five patients in the treatment area have little prospect of being available anytime soon. While it is impossible to imagine any one of the quintet being risked from the first whistle, Hjalmar Ekdal (knee), Jordan Beyer (knock), Benson Manuel (ankle), Johann Berg Gudmundsson (calf), and Nathan Redmond (unspecified) are not believed to be too far away from comebacks. Even if Sterling’s wing prowess may have contributed to Vitinho’s departure just after the hour mark against Chelsea, right-back Vitinho also appeared a bit worse for wear. If Kompany feels like switching things up, Connor Roberts is a ready option.
Brentford 2 – 0 Burnley
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