Chelsea made it six wins in a row with Thursday night’s 3-1 victory in Kazakhstan over Astana in the UEFA Conference League. It’s the first time we have won six in a row in all competitions since the spring of 2022. The next game back then? Brentford at home.
The first goal of that game belonged to Antonio Rüdiger, a 35-yard bomb that our former defender had been trying to score at least once in every game prior to that. It had become a bit of an in-joke, even … until he actually pulled it off!
But then, everything changed. Brentford would come back in the second half to win, 4-1. Chelsea would be sold a month later. Thomas Tuchel would be fired 100 days after that. We haven’t sniffed the top-four since.
Are we back? We just might be.
Date / Time: Sunday, December 15, 2024, 19.00 GMT; 2pm EST; 12:30am IST (next day)
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Peter Bankes (on pitch); Matt Donohue (VAR)
Forecast: positively balmy after Thursday night
On TV: none (UK); USA, Telemundo (USA); none (India); SuperSport Premier League, Canal+ Sport 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: none (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Disney+ Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Chelsea team news: Enzo Maresca continues to insist that we’re not in any sort of title race, but with Liverpool and Arsenal both dropping points (again) on Saturday, Chelsea can solidify our hold on second and close to gap to the top to just two points (albeit with Liverpool having a game in-hand). Little horses or big horses, this course is far from run yet.
It was a skeleton crew that went to Kazakhstan midweek, with only Pedro Neto traveling from among the first-team regulars — and presumably only because he’s suspended for one game after picking up his fifth yellow of the season last weekend. Chelsea continue to lead the league in yellow cards, though only Robert Sánchez and Nicolas Jackson are in any imminent suspension danger at the moment. They have four games to avoid another before the limit gets upped from five to ten.
Our injury situation has been getting slightly worse in recent weeks, but it remains manageable. Reece James and Wesley Fofana are out until the new year while João Félix and Roméo Lavia have been dealing with knocks in the last few days. And Mykhailo Mudryk has missed the last few games with an unspecified illness.
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Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Brentford team news: Despite plenty of rumors and open jobs, manager Thomas Frank ended up staying with Brentford last summer, and has now been in charge for over six years — the third longest-serving manager in the top four divisions. He led them to promotion in 2021 and a ninth-place finish a couple years ago. Last season was the first time they finished lower than the year before under his management, but this season they’re back to midtable and pushing for a top-six finish.
The Bees are among the highest scoring teams in the league, but have also conceded more than most. In fact, only Wolverhampton’s games have featured more goals overall, and that’s largely because Wolves concede ridiculous amounts. Brentford also have an impressive home-and-away split: they’re unbeaten at home with seven wins and one draw; they’re winless away, with six defeats and one draw.
The Brian Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa double act leads the way with nine goals each, with the likes of Mikkel Damsgaard and Keane Lewis-Potter pulling the strings. Not exactly household names, but effective enough. They’ve failed to score in just two of their games in any competition this season. However, they’ve kept just two clean sheets in the same span.
They have a few injuries of note, but should be getting midfielder Vitaly Janelt back. He scored a brace in their 4-1 win at the Bridge mentioned at the top. Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry, and Gustavo Nunes remain out.
Previously: Since returning to the Premier League, Brentford have won all three of their short trips to the Bridge, and haven’t lost to us in five straight. That’s not great!
