Premier League: This is West London Calling

Brentford vs Chelsea

West London has never had it so good in the top flight – certainly not in the Premier League era – and this part of the capital comes calling again this weekend.

With Fulham, Brentford and Chelsea all performing at a high level, there’s much for followers of all three clubs to be optimistic about, particularly the former two.

But it’s the latter two who meet on Sunday afternoon for a contest which could go some way to determining if either side fulfils their ambitions come the end of the campaign.

 

Talking Points

Since being promoted in 2021, Brentford have secured finishes of 13^th, ninth and 16^th.

Currently 11^th, they will be hoping to match their fine achievement of two seasons ago and a victory in this ‘derby’ will definitely help towards that aim.

The hosts will be looking to bounce back from a spirited showing during their midweek defeat at League Cup winners Newcastle.

Despite Bryan Mbeumo equalising from the penalty spot, the Bees made the long journey back from the North East empty-handed, although may take some consolation from the fact that they created a fair few chances in the latter stages.

Taking a look at the bigger picture, the fact they have all but secured a fifth successive season in the Premier League speaks volumes for the wonderful work Thomas Frank has undertaken. Indeed, the Newcastle defeat was their first away from home since mid-December.

As for their visitors on Sunday, it is hard to know how much a Thursday night encounter with Spurs – a fierce London duel – has taken out of them.

This is a key period for Enzo Maresca’s side who moved back into the Premier League’s top four with a win over their London rivals, thanks to a goal from Enzo Fernandez early in the second period.

Now another all-capital clash awaits and Chelsea need to turn around their form as, before the Spurs encounter, they had found Premier League 2025 highlights

few and far between, losing four of their last seven league games.

Last summer, Maresca became the fifth manager in the two-year Chelsea ownership of Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly and this SBOTOP writer believes securing Champions League football will ensure he will avoid them looking for a sixth.

They struggled to kill off Spurs, just as Brentford failed to punish Newcastle, and the victors this weekend may well be the side which is the most clinical.

 

History

This fixture last season was a thriller and saw the sides share four goals with Mads Roerslev and Yoana Wissa on target for the home side and Nicolas Jackson and Axel Disasi finding the net for Chelsea.

In fact, the Bees took four points off Chelsea last term as they recorded an impressive 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge, courtesy of Ethan Pinnock and Mbuemo.

Chelsea went five matches without beating their west London counterparts until December, when Marc Cucurella and Jackson were the marksmen in a 2-1 home success.

Of the seven Brentford victories in the history of their clashes, one stands out and it was truly one of the results of the 2021-22 season.

Inspired by Christian Eriksen, Brentford ran out 4-1 winners in an amazing turnaround at Stamford Bridge.

After Antonio Rudiger had opened the scoring for the home side, the Bees netted three times in 10 minutes with Vitaly Janelt scoring either side of Eriksen before Wissa completed a result which stunned football and delighted fans the world over after Eriksen’s health scare less than a year earlier.

Until that season, they had not met in the league since a 1947 clash in the former Division One.

The very first encounter was in November 1935 at Stamford Bridge, a match Chelsea won 2-1 with Alexander Cheyne and Dick Spence their marksmen.

Overall, Chelsea have won 11 with a further four draws.

 

Betting Tip

The Premier League 2025 betting odds edge towards the illustrious visitors who seem, however questionably, to have managed to stay within financial fair play rules following this week’s announcement that they had sold their women’s team to the club’s parent company.

You can back Enzo Maresca’s boys both 1X2 @ 2.06 and Asian Handicap -0.25 @ 1.90.

Brentford are even more tastily priced, 1X2 @ 2.95 and Asian Handicap +0.25 @ 2.00.

For goals (or not as the case may be), how about total 0-1 @ 4.68, 2-3 @ 2.17, 4-6 @ 2.54 and over 3.25 @ 2.08 – all of which have an appeal.

So does a repeat of the corresponding fixture last term and, while I’m not quite opting for another 2-2, available with Correct Score @ 11.50, I am plumping for a 1X2 Draw @ 3.59 as my *** tip.

   

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