Premier League: West End Boys Ready to Rumble

Chelsea vs Brentford

The Kings Road in West London will be bouncing on Sunday when high-flying Chelsea entertain near neighbours Brentford in a pre-Christmas Cracker which is sure to provide plenty of entertainment.

Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea have emerged as genuine title contenders, now sitting alone in second place, four points behind leaders Liverpool and two ahead of Arsenal in third, and the form of the prolific Cole Palmer is getting better and better. The latest Premier League table is looking pretty good for Thomas Frank’s Brentford too, as the Bees are sitting happily in ninth place.

Both teams had big victories in goal spattered matches last week, with Chelsea winning 4-3 away to Tottenham Hotpsur, while Brentford beat moneybags Newcastle United 4-2 at home, so pull up a chair and watch the goal fly in at the Bridge.

 

Talking Points

Europa success helps Chelsea’s Premier League push

Unlike smaller clubs which can struggle with the rigours of European football and the gruelling Thursday/Sunday routine, it is working very nicely for Maresca, who has seen his team thrive in the Europa Conference League, topping the table with five wins from five. And he is using the competition to develop his second-string players, which can only be a good thing when you prepare for the long Premier League run-in. Players like Joao Felix, Jadon Sancho, and Pedro Neto have all played in the European competition and subsequently worked their way into the Premier team and, during Chelsea’s 3-1 victory over Astana on Thursday, 26-year-old Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall made a strong case for his league chances.

Maresca brought Dewsbury-Hall with him from Leicester City to Chelsea in a £30 million move last summer, and his box-to-box running and attacking instinct makes him perfect for a team flying high and has scored 19 goals in the last six games. He may have to bide his time, but when Dewsbury-Hall’s chance comes he’ll take it with both hands, and the competition for places can only strengthen the Blues’ growing title aspirations.     

The latest Premier League 2024 betting odds make Maresca’s team third favourites to win the title, down in single figures at 7.50 and breathing down the necks of Arsenal and Liverpool. Among the top-flight Big Six, only Liverpool and Arsenal can be as happy as Chelsea with their progress so far, and the Gunners may have been hoping for more.  

 

Bees are so travel-sick

Brentford are flying high enough to be in the top half of the table, which is quite remarkable when you see they have won just a single point from seven away games in the league. The Bees have been superb at home, smacking Newcastle 4-2 last week and also beating Bournemouth, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich Town, Crystal Palace, and Southampton.         

Yoanne Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo with nine goals each, have struck up a lethal relationship, while midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard, with four assists, is a class act and they have taken every team that has visited the Brentford Community Stadium to the cleaners with the exception of West Ham United, who left with a point.

Now, it’s fair to say the Bees have had a kinder set of home fixtures than their away games; they lost 3-1 away to Aston Villa last time they were on the road, but a return of just one point on their travels has to be a worry. With a pretty good set of Premier League 2024 results, Frank will be pretty happy with the Bees’ progress. But if home form starts to waver, he has a problem, and it’s hard to see Brentford picking up their away results this weekend.  

 

History

After almost a century away from the top-flight Brentford have made a superb fist of staying at the top table and, apart from their first season, they have rarely been in trouble.

And Brentford have had a fair amount of success in this fixture since they climbed up into the Premier League five years ago. Frank has masterminded three wins and three draws against Chelsea, losing just four of their 10 meetings. Last season, they won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in October before drawing this fixture 2-2 in March this year.   

In terms of recent form, the Blues are nine unbeaten and have won six of their last six games, while the Bees are in decent nick too with three wins, one draw, and two defeats.

 

Betting Tip

Chelsea are at SBOTOP odds of 1.30 to win this derby with the draw at 5.03 and an away win is 6.18. The Blues’ momentum and class should be too much for the travel-sick Bees, though the visitors won’t have a long journey on Sunday. 

And with two teams who love to take a shot, Over 3.50 at 1.94 is a decent alternative bet.

   

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