Top flight Nottingham Forest make the trip to the capital this Saturday as they prepare to take on Brentford in the Premier League.
The Midlands side go into the weekend in fourth place after a sensational start to the season under Nuno Espirito Santo, with dramatic recent wins over Manchester United and Aston Villa highlighting their character and quality. They boast one of the best defensive records in the division and one of England's most in-form centre-forwards in Chris Wood.
However, the journey to west London will not be easy. Brentford, somewhat surprisingly, have the best home record in the Premier League this season, winning seven and drawing one of their eight games at the Gtech Community Stadium. The Bees have managed just a solitary point on the road but are a completely different animal at home, scoring 26 times – six more than any other side.
Here it is 90 minutes an intriguer's guide Premier League duel.
Brentford vs Nottingham Forest H2H Record (last five matches)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Brentford |
Nottingham Forest |
|---|---|
|
Newcastle 3-1 Brentford – 18/12/24 |
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Aston Villa – 14/12/24 |
|
Chelsea 2-1 Brentford – 15/12/24 |
Man Utd 2-3 Nottingham Forest – 07/12/24 |
|
Brentford 4-2 Newcastle – 07/12/24 |
Man City 3-0 Nottingham Forest – 04/12/24 |
|
Aston Villa 3-1 Brentford – 04/12/24 |
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Ipswich – 30/11/24 |
|
Brentford 4-1 Leicester – 30/11/24 |
Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest – 23/11/24 |
|
country |
TV channel/live streaming |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Non-TV – live radio commentary on BBC Radio London and BBC Radio Nottingham |
|
United States |
fuboTV, nbcsports.com, NBC Sports App, UNIVERSO NOW, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, USA Network, UNIVERSO |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada |
BrentfordThe injury list has only grown in recent weeks with long-term absences joined by a number of first-teamers.
Joshua Dasilva, Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry and Gustavo Nunes are still unavailable, while influential midfielder Mathias Jensen is currently sidelined with a thigh injury that is likely to rule him out until the new year.
Summer recruit Igor Thiago has struggled with injuries this season and has missed his last two outings with one hit. He could play against Forest, as could Sepp van den Berg after he was injured in the warm-up against Newcastle on Wednesday night.
Ethan Pinnock is unlikely to feature after picking up a hamstring injury at St James' Park, but he will be assessed ahead of kick-off.
Brentford predicted formation against Nottingham Forest (3-4-2-1): Spots; Air, Mee, Collins; Roerslev, Norgaard, Janelt, Lewis-Potter; Mbeumo, Schade; Did you know?
forest have some injury concerns heading into London, with midfield duo Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare still out with long-term injuries. The former has been out since opening day with a broken ankle and the latter has been out since September with a hamstring problem.
Ryan Yates, who has often deputized for Danilo and Sangare, is a doubt to feature on Saturday after turning his ankle in the 2-1 win over Villa last weekend. Center back Murillo also picked up a knock against the Villans and could miss this weekend.
Nottingham Forest predicted formation against Brentford (4-2-3-1): Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Morato, Moreno; Dominguez, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.
Only Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have scored more goals than Brentford in the Premier League this season, with 81.3% of their goals coming on Gtech. Forest's defense has been solid for most of the season, but they are unlikely to keep a clean sheet on Saturday.
However, Brentford's attacking prowess has been undermined by an incredibly shaky defensive record. They have managed just one clean sheet in 16 league games and conceded 14 away this season. The forest must be able to benefit from circulation and groups.
It's going to be a hard-fought affair between two contrasting styles – and they might just cancel each other out.