Brentford vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Gtech Community Stadium is the venue as Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers meet in a bottom-half Premier League encounter.

Manchester City’s involvement in the Club World Cup offered Brentford an extended break ahead of the Premier League return for post-Christmas fixtures, giving under-pressure boss Thomas Frank more time to regroup his troops after witnessing five defeats in the last six league matches (W1). The wheels have seemingly come off, with the ‘Bees’ suffering three defeats across their six most recent Premier League outings at the Gtech Community Stadium (W3), as many as in their previous 27 such contests (W13, D11, L3). Wolves’ arrival in the capital doesn’t bode well for Brentford’s bid to find a way out of this crisis, considering they’ve emerged victorious just once in their last eight H2Hs (D2, L5), beating them 2-0 in their inaugural Premier League encounter at Molineux in September 2021.

In the meantime, Wolverhampton put a two-game winless league streak (D1, L1) to bed at the weekend courtesy of a dramatic 2-1 home triumph against Chelsea but failed to climb out of the lower reaches nevertheless. Gary O’Neil’s men commence this round seven points clear of 18th-placed Luton, though they can’t afford to rest on their laurels after losing their last four top-flight games on the road. Each defeat worryingly saw them concede multiple goals, casting doubt on their quest to extend a four-match unbeaten run in away H2Hs (W2, D2). Adding to the traveling side’s pessimism, they’ve won none of their last 14 Premier League visits to London (D3, L11), including five losses in a row in the build-up to this trip.