The Bees host Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon, looking to continue a fine run of home form that has seen 10 points from a possible 12 along with League Cup progression as the rewards from games played at the Gtech this season.
The main talking point going into this one is the return of Wissa. Whilst the game at Manchester United last weekend finally saw Brentford’s fast-scoring hot streak come to an end, the re-appearance of a centre forward a month earlier than expected was a more than welcome boost in return. Even though the game at Old Trafford saw The Bees take the entire first half rather than the customary sub-90 seconds to get the opening goal, nobody was complaining in the stands. Aside from the home support.
Of course, that game culminated in a 2-1 reverse but there were positives. Wissa coming off the bench being the primary one and Thomas Frank is, one would assume, sure to start him against Ipswich.
The other real plus point has been the ongoing form of Mikkel Damsgaard. The Dane is absolutely running the show in midfield at present and has been in the top two Brentford performers in our weekly ‘top five’ column since game week three – the defeat of Southampton at the end of August. Given we are now in late October, that’s not been a bad few months for the Dane.
The flip side to all of this is an imminent selection headache for Thomas. Last season’s established midfield trio of Christian Norgaard and Vitaly Janelt have been missing the injured Mathias Jensen. However, in the build-up to the trip to United, the Bees’ head coach had told journalists, “Mathi [Jensen] is training very well and training with the team. It’s just too soon to risk him but it’s looking very positive for Ipswich.”
Will he now be ready and who do you drop if so? The four of them have played together this season – at Liverpool – although that saw Vitaly fill in at left back. With KLP and Kris Ajer seemingly having that position sewn up for now, depending on four or five at the back, the nicest of problems is fast approaching.
One can only assume it will be the bench for Jensen on Saturday, followed by a League Cup run out against Sheffield Wednesday, Tuesday. After that though, who knows?
Assuming no new injury news is revealed in Friday’s press conference, I’m looking at a Bees line-up of: Flekken, Ajer, Collins, Pinnock, van den Berg, Norgaard, Janelt, Damsgaard, KLP, Mbeumo, Wissa.
Whether Thomas agrees is another thing and the only opinion that truly counts.
As for Ipswich Town, despite most pundits’ pre-season predictions of doom, they sit outside the bottom three with over a fifth of the campaign already gone. Albeit that’s as much due to the absolutely woeful form of Southampton, Wolves and Crystal Palace as anything else. The table doesn’t lie and their 17th position, no matter how precarious it looks with those final four already drifting away from the others, is surely every clubs’ minimum pre-season aspiration.
Kieran McKenna has already told the press (Thursday) that Jens Cajuste is back in training so could feature on Saturday. However Ben Johnson, Jacob Greaves, Axel Tuanzebe, and Massimo Luongo all remain absentees.
In truth, this is not down to who Brentford line up against but how they approach the game. If we are talking form, it’s Ferrari versus John Deere. Whilst the Bees have been on fire at home, draws with Villa, Southampton, Brighton and Fulham have seen The Tractor Boys earn just four points all campaign. To compound the felony, defeat at home to Everton last weekend set an unwelcome club record at this level of no wins in eight games since the season began.
Of course, we’ll insert the usual caveats about banana skins at this point. We of all clubs know how dangerous a newly promoted team can be. At the same time, The Bees need the confidence to go for it against a side who can’t seem to buy a win despite all the effort being thrown into their performances.
Being honest, I thought we were a bit too cautious/off the pace at Old Trafford on Saturday. Too much time spent on the back foot and struggling to reach the final third despite lots of slick passing.
This time around, ‘going for it’ – especially with Wissa back in contention and the current home form – could well reap dividends.
Bring it on and see you there.
