Brentfordvs.Chelsea

Enzo Maresca's side head into matchday 31 in fourth position, while the Bees enter the weekend in 11th place in the Premier League table.

Match preview

Brentford's five-game winning away run came to an end in Wednesday's game against Newcastle United at St James' Park, as the Bees fell to their first Premier League away defeat of 2025.

Bryan Mbeumo cancelled out Alexander Isak's first-half opener with a 66th-minute penalty, only for Sandro Tonali to score the winner less than 10 minutes later, condemning Brentford to a fourth consecutive defeat in away meetings with the Magpies.

While more European places could open up, Brentford will be fully aware they will have to produce a remarkable set of results in their final eight games if they are to put themselves in contention, with the Bees currently in 11th place and three points adrift of the top half of the table.

After making the long trip to the North East in midweek, Thomas Frank's charges will now return to the familiar surroundings of the Gtech Community Stadium, where they have failed to win any of their last seven Premier League home matches since beating Newcastle 4-2 in December.

The Bees are also the only team yet to keep a home clean sheet in the Premier League this season, having failed to record a top-flight shutout since they played out a goalless draw with Fulham in May 2024.

Brentford will be determined to overcome their defensive frailties, as they look to end their 87-year for a competitive home win against Chelsea.

Chelsea will head into Sunday's fixture in a positive mood after they returned from the international break with a narrow 1-0 win in Thursday's meeting with London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge.

Enzo Fernandez's first Premier League home goal since December proved to be the decisive goal, as Chelsea's Moises Caicedo and Tottenham's Pape Sarr both had efforts chalked off following VAR reviews.

A fourth consecutive head-to-head victory ensured the Blues finished the midweek round of fixtures in fourth place, and with a top-five finish likely to be enough to secure Champions League qualification, Marseca's side will be more concerned about the two-point gap to sixth-placed Newcastle United than the one-point lead over Manchester City in fifth position.

While they celebrated a fifth consecutive home league win on Thursday, Chelsea have been unable to replicate that sort of form on their travels, having taken just two points from their last seven top-flight road trips since they beat Spurs 4-3 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December.

In fact, the Blues have lost each of their previous four Premier League matches, meaning they could lose five consecutive top-flight away games for the first time since 2000.

Despite their recent struggles away from Stamford Bridge, Chelsea will still fancy their chances of claiming a positive result on Sunday, considering they have avoided defeat in each of their last seven away games against Brentford, although they have had to settle for draws on their previous two visits to the Gtech Community Stadium.

Brentford Premier League form:

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D

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Chelsea Premier League form:

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Chelsea form (all competitions):

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Team News

Brentford will be without Fabio Carvalho for the rest of the season after he recently underwent a shoulder operation.

Josh Dasilva and Igor Thiago remain sidelined with knee injuries, while Aaron Hickey and Gustavo Nunes are not quite ready to return to first-team action despite getting 45 minutes under their belt in Brentford's B team against Fleetwood Town at the end of March.

Frank has revealed that Rico Henry is in contention to return to the matchday squad after making good progress in his recovery from a hamstring problem.

Midfielder Mathias Jensen is expected to be on the bench, having recovered from an illness that has kept him out of the last two games.

As for Chelsea, Maresca has confirmed that defender Wesley Fofana and midfielder Romeo Lavia have both suffered fresh injury blows.

The pair have sustained muscle injuries, with the Chelsea boss indicating that Lavia is likely to return to action before Fofana.

Omari Kellyman is out for the rest of the season with a hamstring issue, while Mykhaylo Mudryk is serving a provisional suspension after he tested positive for a banned substance in December.

Reece James should come into the side after he was only risked for the closing stages of the win over Tottenham, while there may also be a starting berth for Noni Madueke following his return from injury on Thursday.

Brentford possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Van den Berg, Collins, Pinnock, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Schade; Wissa

Chelsea possible starting lineup:

Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson

We say: Brentford 2-2 Chelsea

Written by

Ben Sully

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