Brentford vs Everton

The two out-of-sorts sides go head-to-head at the Brentford Community Stadium as 15th-placed Brentford take on 13th-placed Everton in a bottom-half Premier League clash.

After an enthralling 3-3 draw with Newcastle United last time out, Brentford are now winless in five Premier League matches (D1, L4), with fears of a potential return to the Championship starting to loom in the back of their minds. After racking up three clean sheets and conceding just twice in their inaugural five Premier League fixtures, the ‘Bees’ have failed to record a shutout in their last seven in a row, letting in an average of 2.1 goals per game in the process. What’s more, since a 2-0 win over Arsenal in their first-ever Premier League home outing, Thomas Frank’s men have gone winless in their subsequent five top-flight matches at the Brentford Community Stadium (D1, L4). They surrendered the points to a single-goal margin in all four defeats in that run.

As for Everton, an embarrassing 3-0 away loss to Manchester City last time out has deepened the crisis at Goodison Park, taking their winless Premier League streak to six matches (D2, L4). The pressure is ramping up on the opinion-splitting manager Rafael Benitez after his side claimed just one win from six top-flight travels this term (D2, L3), conceding 2+ goals on four occasions in the process. On the bright side, though, the ‘Toffees’ have come out victorious in five of their last six Premier League visits to London (L1), as many triumphs as they had in their previous 32 top-flight games in the capital. But it’s worth noting that Everton have won just one of the eight Premier League fixtures they entered as underdogs this season.