Predicting the Brentford starting XI for Saturday’s game at Wolverhampton Wanderers looks like it could be even more of a challenge than it has for any of the December fixtures to date.
Keith Andrews has not been afraid to compromise his selection from the tried and tested with the next game in mind. We saw that at Arsenal ahead of Spurs (which worked well) and then last Sunday for the insipid draw with Leeds United prior to the League Cup exit at Manchester City. The game at The Ethiad seeing a return to the dreaded five-man defence and even more mixed-up side than ever, with key names – primarily Jordan Henderson and Igor Thiago – not even making the bench.
Keith has already spoken to the press this week, using Thursday’s meet ‘n greet with our friends at media to give updates (of sorts) on those absentees.
“Jordan and Thiago both picked up little knocks against Leeds,” he announced, going on to share that, “I don’t know yet, is the honest answer, on exactly how they are. They’ve been with medics today, and we’ll see how they are going into the game on Saturday.”
Presumably, he knows exactly how they are, and it is more than that, unsurprisingly, he doesn’t want to hand any advantage to Wolves’ manager.
Rob Edwards. With the Molineux hot seat currently having a sixth occupant in just four and a half years, can you blame him? Moreso, given they are currently on course to smash all sorts of unwanted records.
Derby County’s all-time Premier League low of just 11 points in a season (achieved in 2007-2008) is in serious danger of being overhauled with the Molineux outfit on just 2 points from their first sixteen games. Even last season’s utterly atrocious Southampton side eventually limped to 12 to ensure they didn’t take ownership of this most embarrassing of yardsticks. Draws at home to Brighton and away to Spurs are the only marks on the bedpost so far. More light scratches than actual notches.
They’ve lost their last nine league games in a row, and should Keith Andrews manage to coax another away win out of his tactical selection, then it will move Wolves to joint third with Norwich City (2019-20) on the ‘worst runs ever’ leaderboard. For any quiz fans amongst you, the runaway leaders there are Sunderland, who lost 15 on the bounce in 2002-2003, followed by Aston Villa in 2015-16 with 11 straight defeats.
It is a formbook that stretches into last season for the home side. Wolves haven’t won in 20 top-flight games, and whilst Derby County set a 32-game streak in the aforementioned campaign, carry on like this, and they’ll soon catch up with Norwich City (21), Southampton (22 – twice, incredibly), and Sunderland (26).
We could go on – the figures are truly terrifying – but I’m sure by now everybody gets the drift. They are a team that are, on paper, ripe for the picking, but we all know that’s just not how football works.
Look at what happened when we welcomed hapless Norwich City back in November 2021. Rock-bottom of the table, the game ended with the Canaries recording a first win in 11, and Charlie Goode thrown up to try and salvage something for The Bees. He couldn’t.
How about the trip to equally bad Sheffield United in December 2023? A 1-0 reverse for the injury hit Bees at the basement club saw James McAtee’s strike, lauded as ‘wonderful’ (not my words, Carol, the words of the BBC), simply drift past Mark Flekken from distance as he watched it go past, rooted to the spot.
In short, these potato skin fixtures are a nightmare to play. There are times when the team out of form have been thrashed – just look at Southampton away last campaign – but, as we have seen, The Bees have come unstuck themselves.
Keith at least recognises the threat, using the press conference to bring out his favourite phrase – that of personality (I would also accept: character) when he noted, “It’s going to be a really difficult game. You just need to see how they played against Arsenal and Villa; they showed a lot of personality and fight to play for the manager and represent the club. We certainly won’t underestimate them.”
It is a challenge made all the trickier for him by other absences. Both Dango Ouattara and Frank Onyeka are now away on AFCON duty, so if nothing else, the middle of the park needs a rejig. Moreso, as Reiss Nelson is an injury doubt. If Thiago is forced to sit this one out, then presumably Kevin Schade will be pushed up top again, given there’s no like-for-like alternative.
For a squad with more centre-backs and central midfielders than Wolves have points, one does wonder how Brentford have found themselves so disproportionately weighted in terms of balance. Perhaps it’ll be a flat back 10 to start, then catch Wolves on the break with a long ball over the top.
In all seriousness, though, there is still more than enough talent in this team to have the courage to properly run at Wolves. To try and inflict that early blow. To kick them whilst they are down. Should Thiago and Henderson start, then all the more encouraging.
Those two are without doubt stand-out performers in the campaign so far, with only Michael Kayode above them in our game-by-game rankings. They’ll be a huge loss if missing, but the likes of Jensen, Damsgaard, KLP, Kayode, Hickey, and Yarmoliuk are still more than capable of bringing the ball forward if given that instruction. Of finding somebody to have a go at sticking it in the back of the net. Whether Schade or otherwise.
It’ll be a tough one, no doubt. There are no gimmes in football at any level. However, so much is achieved by how you start and how you set up.
Here’s to Saturday afternoon and the chance for Keith’s beloved character being that of positivity and winners.
