Chelsea vs Brentford

Downtrodden Chelsea will be looking to give a devastated Stamford Bridge support something to cheer for when they meet cross-town rivals Brentford in a mid-table Premier League encounter.

Not even an early lead against high-flying Brighton was enough to hand interim boss Frank Lampard his first Premier League win as his out-of-sorts Chelsea side slumped to a 2-1 home loss last time out, condemning the former Everton boss to a fourth defeat in as many competitive games in charge of the ‘Blues.’ An underwhelming run, bookended by a 2-0 home loss to Real Madrid in their ill-fated Champions League quarter-final tie, sees the ‘Pensioners’ swim against the tide as they fight to avoid a first bottom-half Premier League finish since 1995/96. As they stare down the barrel of five consecutive defeats for the first time since 1993, Chelsea will be desperate to snap a two-game winless H2H run against Brentford (W1, D1), having won seven of their eight competitive duels beforehand (D1).

On the other hand, Brentford conceded a late equalizer in a stomach-wrenching 1-1 home draw against Aston Villa last weekend, extending their disappointing winless run in the Premier League to six matches (D3, L3). If it’s any consolation for the ‘Bees,’ that result halted their three-game losing league streak despite making it zero wins from their last four top-flight fixtures in which they’ve opened the scoring (D3, L1). The visitors may have lost six times on their eight previous visits to Stamford Bridge in all competitions (W2), yet one of their two wins at this venue was a thumping 4-1 victory in this corresponding match-up in 2021/22. However, Thomas Frank’s men have lost their last two away league games ‘to nil,’ casting doubt on their hopes of replicating that feat.