Brentford vs. Chelsea, Premier League: Preview, team news, how to watch

Last year was Brentford’s first season in the Premier League and they marked it with an excellent 13th place and two dramatic games against Chelsea and a third in the League Cup. We won two of those, one through the skin of our collective teeth (and Édouard Mendy’s magic gloves) and the other through young academy players who made a big impact in the cup, and then we lost the third 4-1 in quite humiliating fashion. at Stamford Bridge – a game we hoped to remember because of Antonio Rudiger’s howitzer but was quickly forgotten amidst all the other drama off the pitch.

And Brentford hasn’t stopped banging about his weight this season, currently in ninth place and enjoying a 2-0 win over Graham Potter’s former protégés, Brighton. Ivan Toney already has eight (8!) goals, which would be ridiculous if he wasn’t in the same league as Erling Haaland (already 15 goals).

Chelsea are of course in great form too – best in the division alongside Arsenal – winners of four straight league wins, five in a row in all competitions, unbeaten in our last six and keeping four clean sheets. Let’s move on!

Appointment time: Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. BST; 2:30 p.m. EDT; 00:00 IST (next day)
Venue: Brentford Community Stadium, London, England
Referee: Jarred Gillet (on the pitch); Michael Salisbury (VAR)
Forecast: Mild but rain possible

On TV: none (UNITED KINGDOM); United States, Universe (US); Star Sports Select HD2 (India); none? (NGA); elsewhere
Stream: Amazon Prime (UK); NBC Sports, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Hotstar (India); SuperSport GOtv (NGA)

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Brentford Team News: Brentford are yet to win away but have only lost once at home, against the leaders. Toney’s brace over the weekend means he has scored almost half (8) of their total goals (18) and six of the last eight.

Summer signings Ben Mee at centre-back and Aaron Hickey at right-back have helped solidify the defense, although they sent eight together to Arsenal and Newcastle before conceding at the weekend – and Hickey is now ruled out for the World Cup with an ankle injury, alongside centre-back and club captain Pontus Jansson and defensive midfielder Christian Norgaard. Substitute goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha remains out and has yet to be fielded.

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Chelsea Team News: The most recent injury damage is N’Golo Kanté’s hamstring surgery, although we’ve managed without him for the last two months, so what’s another four months, eh? Pooh.

The more serious issue at the moment, however, is the expected absence of Reece James until after the World Cup, who is joined in this regard by Wesley Fofana. Plan A to replace James was a bit of a disaster over the weekend, even if it went unpunished. Plan B involved César Azpilicueta, and that worked better, but Dave has to turn back the clock a few years if it’s going to keep working.

Happily, Thiago Silva’s hamstring ‘strain’ is more of a recovery issue than an actual injury, but it’s an important reminder that his minutes likely need to be managed a little more carefully. He and (a suddenly out of shape) Raheem Sterling lead the team with 990 minutes played (of 1170 available).

Mason Mount and Kepa Arrizabalaga carried the team to victory with outstanding individual performances on Sunday. Others are welcome to join them to carry the burden.

So far: Speaking of burden carrying: