Saturday lunchtime sees a West London Derby that has everything to play for. With the race for Europe only getting tighter, a mere three points now separate Chelsea (48) in sixth and Bournemouth (45) in eleventh.
Results last time out saw The Bees (44) narrow the gap on hapless Blues even further after that butt-clenching, heart-breaking 2-2 draw with Everton. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s 91st-minute equaliser a bitter pill to swallow, but one which should only spur the Bees on with just six games remaining.
Keith Andrews will only be looking upwards. With the game a lunchtime kick-off, it is Brentford with the first bite of the cherry in the race to overtake Chelsea, then catch up Liverpool in the race for the Champions League. Laugh it up all you want, but with only a handful of games remaining, the opportunity is still there. Those two teams above the Bees remain in a spiral of self-destruction that is beginning to approach Spurs’ levels of incompetence.
Of course, all that counts for nothing unless the Bees can get back to winning ways. Four successive draws in the Premier League have seen them holding station rather than surging even further up the table than the current seventh place. What better time to make further headway than in a visit from football’s most pointless team (insert Richard Osman joke here).
Sponge cakes and cheese boards. Gin bars. Clacker banging, foam-finger-waving fans. The Michael Jackson statue. Run out music for the warm-up. Neutral stand. A swimming pool. Season Tickets you’d need to a second mortgage to buy. They’re certainly an outlier in what could be described as the footballing norm – and that’s me being polite.
A club that feels like they have to manufacture an identity rather than it being something organic. A West London MK Dons or New York Cosmos and a fanbase that almost seems to revel in an atmosphere so lacking, I was half-expecting last week’s Artemis 2 splashdown to take place in the Thames rather than the Pacific.
That’s on them. Personally, I’m just glad I was born this side of the 5.3 miles that divide the two teams rather than any closer to Putney. One almost has to pity those who have ended being part of that.
Anyway, it’s a well-told tale. Something that would only add to the joy of a victory that will ultimately be decided on the pitch. Albeit the fans will be doing what it takes to urge their team on. Which means noise from the Brentford stands and tucking into a rather tasty Victoria Sponge in the away end.
Keith Andrews will be hoping Jordan Henderson and Mikkel Damsgaard are available once more. The former missed the Everton game whilst the Dane was withdrawn at half-time, with the Bees’ head-honcho later revealing he had been unwell in the build-up to that one. Whilst the Bees started at 100mph and had opened the scoring within two minutes, it would be fair to say that, despite retaking the lead, it all looked a bit as though they were hanging on at the end.
Perhaps this was down to exhaustion (the bench was what we could politely call lacking experience), and Keith only made one change in a really hard-fought encounter. Maybe also that lengthy period without a league game following the international break and then the FA cup. Regardless, it has been and gone. We’ve come away with another point on the board, and spirits should be high at the prospect of not only where the club are placed but what could be with just six games remaining.
I can only imagine the line-up will be similar, if not identical, to that which began against Everton.
Namely: Kelleher, KLP, Collins, van den Berg, Kayode, Jensen, Yarmoliuk, Schade, Damsgaard, Ouattara, Thiago.
Keith has shown no real sign of making the one significant change many supporters have felt may be coming in recent fixtures, so one can’t imagine he’d start now. Moreso, given the shape of the bench, with injuries finally starting to bite. That said, I did think Romelle Donovan might be thrown in during the later stages last time as part of the talent-infused youngster being eased into the first team set up, much as we did with Yarmo. Perhaps this time around, the game will be perfect for him to try and make late in roads.
Key focus remains on Igor Thiago. Two goals against Everton put the Brazilian international just one behind Erling Haaland in the race to finish the season as the Premier League’s top scorer. There wouldn’t be a better time to overtake the Manchester City front man after reeling in him over the last month or so. Fingers crossed for Schade and Dango to do what we know they can. For some of those killer through balls from the midfield.
As for Fulham, well, frankly, who cares? For me, they are just eleven men in white shirts. It doesn’t matter who turns out for them or how much Tanqueray and camembert they consume in the build-up. The game itself is bigger than any individual they may have. Winning it my only focus.
The only slight point of frustration being they have finally arrested their cycle of yo-yo-like demotions that saw them relegated from the Premier League in 2013–14, 2018–19, and 2020–21. Whatever else happens in this campaign, they’re safe from that fate.
The officials for this weekend, as always, include one of the combinations that makes me groan every time we see it. Take a bow, Craig Pawson on VAR. The full team being:
Referee: Paul Tierney. Assistants: Eddie Smart, Blake Antrobus. Fourth official: John Brooks. VAR: Craig Pawson. Assistant VAR: Adrian Holmes.
Come on, Craig, prove me wrong. More importantly, come on, Brentford. You know what this means……
