Brentford head in to the game with Aston villa on Sunday hoping that, finally, something goes their way on the fitness front.
Brentford head into the game with Aston Villa on Sunday hoping that, finally, something goes their way on the fitness front. Last weekend’s reverse at Sheffield United was a game in which two more first-team regulars – Bryan Mbeumo and Mathias Jensen – remained occupants of a longer casualty list than the average episode of, err, Casualty.
Nathan Collins, Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry and Ivan Toney are among the guaranteed starters also missing out at present alongside Josh Dasilva, Kevin Schade and Kristoffer Ajer. The later trio are as integral to Thomas Frank’s plans as any of the others with the bare minimum of a place from the bench the norm for this group.
The absence of Schade in particular has been one of the most sorely felt in the last couple of months as he really looked as though he was finding his groove. Yet defying most neutral observer’s expectations, The Bees have continued to churn out the results. Even in defeat, as we saw with the Arsenal game, things have been run very close and perhaps even deserving of the win (he says, channelling his inner Dean Smith).
Then Brighton happened followed by the game with the Blades. That most recent fixture in particular looked as though tired legs were starting to catch up. The plus side is that Brentford have had the extra day to recover, thanks to Villa’s Thursday night fixture in Bosnia & Herzegovina. A 1-1 draw with Zrinjski Mostar meant they topped their Europa Conference League qualifying group.
For Brentford, there is an element of good fortune creeping into our prep. The extra game and the long-ish trip home faced by Unai Emery’s team have been further boosted by the news that both Lucas Digne and Douglas Luiz miss out as a result of earning a fifth yellow of the campaign in the defeat of Arsenal.
No bad thing, given how that win saw them rise to third in the table with the chance to go top should the result in this one go their way. Standing in their way will be a Brentford team likely to be set up with five at the back.
I’m predicting: Flekken, Janelt, Ghoddos, Mee, Pinnock, Collins ( who has been spotted in training, finally). A midfield of Jensen, Norgaard and Yarmoliuk with Wissa and Neal Maupay up top. Subs to include Peter Gilham, Trevor from the GPG, Stu Soccer AM and the winner of Centre Circle Challenge.
Ok, so it hasn’t quite got that bad but with The Bees really running on fumes, Thomas will need to be on top of his bench if there is any hope of stopping the absolute team of the moment. One has to wonder what Emery brings to these players that his predecessor Steven Gerrard didn’t – aside from managerial ability, experience, man-management – but whatever he has brought to Villa Park has worked in a manner nobody could have predicted.
Will Brentford be able to stop them? It’s not often that the away team are deemed favourites but such is their potency that Aston Villa are expected to win. At least, by most outside of TW8.
For those closer to home, it smells like the sort of game where if the crowd are on form from the off then anything could happen. Much as we loved Ollie Watkins at Griffin Park, I’d give anything to see him silenced on Sunday afternoon.
Here’s to the big kick off and the chance to do just that.
