Nick Bruzon previews Brentford’s ‘Boxing Day’ date with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Is there a finer round of games than the Boxing Day matches? Certainly in our house, the day after Christmas is always one of the first we look to when the fixture list is announced over the summer.
It’s a chance to work off the previous day’s excesses in the nicest way possible. A walk to The Griffin Pub and enjoying a pint in the friendly pre-match atmosphere before pushing on up to the Gtech to escape the in-laws, luxuriate in festive football and then all roll back home for turkey sandwiches.
Alas, this year there will be no Griffin. There will be no catching up with the football friends. There will be no avoiding the extended family. Terrible parents or the most wonderful people, it’s nice to get out from each other’s feet for a few hours before somebody says or does something they regret.
The joy of TV scheduling, with all ten games being shown on Amazon, means only five take place on this most traditional of days with the rest then strung out in what is a treat for the armchair viewer but not many others. For Bees’ fans, we have the middle stint on Wednesday evening although this may not be too bad a thing given how the absentee list has taken its toll in recent weeks.
That extra day to recuperate was further boosted by missing out in the last round of fixtures due to Manchester City’s participation in the Club World Cup. Instead, it will be ten days since we last played in what is normally the busiest time of the year. That game, the 2-1 reverse at home to Aston Villa, one where the abysmal performance of referee David Coote still feels a sore point. Even now. Brentford leading it for most of the way until the man in the middle lost complete control.
As ever, there are no points to be gained by overly labouring what has gone before and instead Thomas Frank will be ecstatic that Mathias Jensen is finally available after missing the last four games with his adductor strain. Likewise, Nathan Collins came on for the final quarter-hour against the Villans.
Both will be starting this one if for no other reason than the suspensions of Frank Onyeka and Ben Mee respectively. Albeit, the form Mathias has been in he is as nailed on as anybody for a starting berth.
The rest of the team likely to be made up by Mark Flekken in nets. Ethan Pinnock, Saman Ghoddos and Vitaly Janelt joining Ben in the back line. A midfield trio of Jensen, Norgaard and Damsgaard with KLP, Wissa and Neal Maupay up top.
Damsgaard and KLP in particular those who came out of that Villa game with heads held high. Much of their season has been missed through injury so to see them both playing with such composure will surely be something Thomas will hope to build on from what will be an attack-minded starting XI
Then again, Wolves are no mugs. Their own Christmas Eve game (??!! – thanks a bunch, TV) saw Mauricio Pochettino’s turkeys given a right stuffing. A 2-1 defeat of Chelsea at Molineux sufficient to see them go three points clear of the Bees as they climbed to 11th in the table.
It was a win in which, for once, Hwang Hee-chan failed to find the back of the net. The South Korean has been in fine form this campaign, currently sitting in the top ten lists of Premier League goal scorers and Fantasy Football midfielders. He’s not alone in providing goal threat for a team who have also claimed the scalps of Manchester City and Spurs this season.
Personally speaking, I’m going into it confident that Brentford will return to winning ways. Albeit, I’d happily take it 1-0 off of Jensen’s backside given we are up against opposition who never fail to make it tough for The Bees.
Roll on December 26th 27th. See you there.
