Apparently, Chelsea only play in London these days. Saturday night’s trip to Brentford will mark a fourth straight game in the capital for Enzo Maresca’s side, and so far that has suited them just fine.
Crystal Palace, the only other team in Football League history to open a league season with four straight London derbies, are the only side to have taken a point off Chelsea this term, and Oliver Glasner’s side might have had all three had the enforcement of an arcane law not denied Eberechi Eze a goal at Stamford Bridge on the opening weekend of the campaign.
Since that goalless stalemate, however, Chelsea have hit their stride. West Ham and Fulham were swept aside by an aggregate score of 7-1, with new boy João Pedro finding the net in both games and the absence of the talismanic Cole Palmer, who missed both games with a groin injury, barely felt.
Small wonder, then, that Chelsea are heavily favoured by the bookmakers against Brentford, with an away win priced at 10/13 with betting sites. The Bees have yet to defeat their near neighbours at home in the Premier League, and it is worth noting that only one of the teams’ eight meetings in the competition has yielded a home victory.
The oddsmakers clearly expect that trend to continue, with Brentford available at 15/4 for the win after losing two of their opening three Premier League fixtures. A draw is available at 3/1.
Brentford vs Chelsea: correct score prediction
While Brentford have had a difficult start to life under Keith Andrews – unsurprisingly after a summer in which they lost their former manager Thomas Frank to Tottenham, captain Christian Nørgaard to Arsenal, and top scorer Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United – they have bounced back well from a 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest on the opening weekend.
A debut goal from Dango Ouattara was enough to earn a home win against Aston Villa, while last time out only a stoppage-time intervention from Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor denied Brentford a share of the spoils at the Stadium of Light.
With that in mind, Chelsea seem unlikely to win by a landslide. A 1-0 away win looks appealing at 8-1.
Brentford vs Chelsea bet builder
Could João Pedro make it three goals in three games for Chelsea? The Brazilian is in electric form, and is quoted at 5-1 in the first goalscorer market. Combining that offering with a 1-0 away win for Chelsea at 8/1 looks a sound bet.
Brentford vs Chelsea team news
After playing the first half in a 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic for Brentford’s under-21 side, German midfielder Vitaly Janelt could return to the matchday squad this weekend after a longstanding heel injury.
Chelsea midfielder Dário Essugo sustained a thigh injury on international duty for Portugal’s under-21 side and underwent surgery this week. Liam Delap is sidelined with a hamstring problem, Levi Colwill is expected to be out for most of the season following an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Palmer, Benoit Badiashile and Romeo Lavia are all understood to have returned to training, although it remains to be seen whether they will be available for Brentford. After withdrawing from the England under-21 camp with an injury, Tyrique George is also a doubt.
Brentford vs Chelsea: predicted lineups
Brentford: Caoimhin Kelleher; Michael Kayode, Nathan Collins, Sepp van den Berg, Keane Lewis-Potter; Yegor Yarmolyuk, Jordan Henderson; Dango Ouattara, Mikkel Damsgaard, Kevin Schade; Igor Thiago.
Chelsea: Robert Sanchez; Malo Gusto, Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Cucurella; Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Cole Palmer, Lomba Pedro Neto; Joao Pedro.
