Chelsea vs Brentford LIVE!
The Blues have improved during October and today test their four-game unbeaten streak against a Bees side who will be tasting blood after finally picking up some points of their own. Seven points from a possible nine in the Premier League means Brentford head into a daunting London derby with a reason to be confident, which is bad news for Chelsea.
It’s another capital clash for Chelsea after throwing away a two-goal lead to draw with Arsenal last weekend. A disappointing result but plenty of reasons to be positive about the performance, in particular from Raheem Sterling, Cole Palmer and Mykhaylo Mudryk. Mauricio Pochettio will know that the fixture list only gets harder from here, though.
Brentford are looking for a win at Stamford Bridge for the third successive season and will be buoyed by the Blues abysmal record in derbies – two wins from 12 – and abysmal record in home league games – two wins from 15. Follow the game LIVE below with our dedicated match blog, featuring expert insight and analysis from Nizaar Kinsella at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea vs Brentford latest news
Kick-off: 12.30pm BST, Stamford Bridge
How to watch: TNT Sports
Score prediction: Blues to finally down Bees
13:08 , Alex Young
36min: Caicedo wins a free in the centre of the park. Brentford getting a tad frustrated as Chelsea stretch them across the park.
Nizaar Kinsella at Stamford Bridge
13:04 , Alex Young
Brentford’s back four have been excellent whenever Chelsea get in the box. They are dominating physically in tight areas but Chelsea have their backs against the wall now.
(Action Images via Reuters)
13:03 , Alex Young
31min: Chelsea fans kind of cry for another penalty as Gallagher slips in the area. Obviously nothing doing. Blues back on top now, though.
13:02 , Alex Young
28min: Brentford enjoying a few minutes on the ball, albeit while making little in-roads. A breather, at least.
NO PENALTY!
12:57 , Alex Young
25min: Sterling takes a tumble under pressure from Roerslov and that looks like a penalty to me. VAR take a look but decide not. Interesting.
Story continues
12:55 , Alex Young
24min: Chelsea players are almost queuing up to score at the moment. Attack vs defence as Brentford hold on, for now.
Nizaar Kinsella at Stamford Bridge
12:54 , Alex Young
Cole Palmer is ridiculous. What have Man City done by selling him?!
12:52 , Alex Young
21min: Close again! This time the ball falls to Sterling inside the area but he blazes out.
He had to hit the target, then.
12:51 , Alex Young
20min: So close! Palmer inswinging cross is inches away from Cucurella’s darting run into the area.
12:50 , Alex Young
19min: Chelsea probing with Palmer and Sterling but Brentford just swarm them within seconds.
12:48 , Alex Young
17min: Bit of a pause in play but Madueke should be OK. He yelped in pain so good to see him up on his feet.
12:47 , Alex Young
15min: Uh oh, Madueke is down and stays down.
12:43 , Alex Young
11min: Great game, this. Sanchez is forced into a save at his near post and second later Sterling is darting into the area and lays to ball off for Madueke to have another pop.
CHANCE!
12:42 , Alex Young
10min: Stunning effort from Madueke on the right as he takes on Hickey and then bends a shot from a tight angle which hits the corner of post and bar!
Almost a wonderstrike.
Nizaar Kinsella at Stamford Bridge
12:39 , Alex Young
This game has gone from end-to-end early on. It is really entertaining with Brentford’s pressing and set-pieces causing problems but rapid Chelsea counters also threatening.
12:37 , Alex Young
5min: This is where Chelsea excel. Brentford make a mess of a throw in and the hosts break through Sterling, who ignores Jackson through the middle and finds Palmer on the right. The summer signing tries to return the favour into the area but Brentford just about get the ball away.
Dangerous.
12:35 , Alex Young
4min: All you can hear are the Brentford fans so far.
12:34 , Alex Young
3min: A few early set-pieces for Brentford but nothing much doing just yet.
Kick-off!
12:31 , Alex Young
1min: Here we go!
Nizaar Kinsella at Stamford Bridge
12:28 , Alex Young
A big Matthew Harding banner is displayed in the end named after the former shareholder in and around the anniversary of his death in a helicopter crash.
12:27 , Alex Young
Here come the teams!
12:23 , Alex Young
Almost time. The teams are back in their dressing rooms
Dimitar Berbatov predicts
12:17 , Alex Young
“I will go for Chelsea. They need to find their consistency. They pick up speed and when you’re winning 2-0 against Arsenal, that is when you need to be more solid and know how to protect that lead because Arsenal have the quality to hurt you.
“Against Brentford, they cannot afford to do something like this again. They have enough quality to win the game. Prediction: 1-0.”
Mauricio Pochettino on Fernandez and Mudryk on TNT Sports
12:14 , Alex Young
“Both of them felt a small muscle strain yesterday, but I hope they will be available for the next game. It’s not a big issue, should be fixed in the next few days. We are going to miss both of them as they are very good players, but we have a very big squad to cope with that.
“Yes maybe [the arrival of the new baby for Enzo Fernandez] was the reason he could not train and felt uncomfortable yesterday. But he is going to rest now and recover as quick as possible.”
Chelsea vs Brentford match odds
12:11 , Alex Young
Chelsea being well-supported in the markets today despite the London derby record.
Chelsea 6/10
Draw 31/10
Brentford 9/2
Odds via Betfair.
Team news
12:01 , Alex Young
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino handed a start to Noni Madueke with Enzo Fernandez absent from the side.
Axel Disasi also returned to the starting line-up with Malo Gusto dropping to the bench, and there was no place in the squad for Mykhailo Mudryk.
For Brentford, Neal Maupay and Frank Onyeka dropped to the bench after last week’s victory over Burnley, with Aaron Hickey and Mads Roerslev coming in.
11:51 , Alex Young
Even Thomas Frank is surprised by Enzo Fernandez’s absence.
He tells TNT Sports: “Fernandez is a surprise. He must be injured.”
Pochettino will soon let us know.
Nizaar Kinsella at Stamford Bridge
11:41 , Alex Young
Noni Madueke make his first Premier League start under Mauricio Pochettino and Axel Disasi looks to be playing at right back in response to Brentford’s physicality, with Reece James on the bench.
Nicolas Jackson makes his first Chelsea start in over a month. Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk are both surprisingly not available. Mauricio Pochettino will no doubt be asked about their absence.
(Getty Images)
Team news in full
11:35 , Alex Young
Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Disasi, Thiago Silva, Colwill, Cucurella; Gallagher, Caicedo; Madueke, Palmer, Sterling; Jackson
Subs: Badiashile, Ugochukwu, James, Gusto, Petrovic, Maatsen, Deivid Washington, Beach, Matos.
Brentford XI: Flekken, Ajer, Pinnock, Collins, Roerslev, Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt, Hickey, Mbeumo, Wissa.
Subs: Maupay, Jorgensen, Ghoddos, Onyeka, Mee, Strakosha, Yarmolyuk, Olakigbe, Brierley
Brentford XI
11:31 , Alex Young
…and the visitors!
Chelsea XI
11:30 , Alex Young
A few surprises!
11:18 , Alex Young
Team news is imminent from Stamford Bridge.
Frank says Poch will have Chelsea on top in two years
11:05 , Alex Young
Brentford boss Thomas Frank believes Chelsea will be competing against the best teams in the Premier League within two years under Mauricio Pochettino.
The Bees make the short trip across West London on Saturday, with Chelsea unbeaten in four games in all competitions and showing clear signs of improvement under the Argentinian.
“[Pochettino] has done fantastically his whole coaching career,” Frank said at his pre-match press conference.
“He knows what it takes to build a club to a high level; you can see them moulding more and more together.
“They have so much pace on the counters, and we have to stop crosses from the side.
“Chelsea look really promising. The players they have are very high quality. Their talent and potential is really exciting.
“I can see this squad competing in two years, or maybe earlier depending on how their development goes.”
(AP)
Pochettino delivers Nkunku update
10:48 , Alex Young
Mauricio Pochettino said Christopher Nkunku could be available as early as the week after the November international break as the Chelsea summer signing’s recovery from a knee injury is progressing quicker than expected.
The 25-year-old, who was injured in a friendly against Borussia Dortmund during the club’s pre-season tour of the United States, had been expected to be out until at least December but that timescale has now been brought forward, raising the possibility he could make a long-awaited competitive debut when the team face Newcastle at St James’s Park on November 25.
“(Nkunku) is doing really well, working hard, I think he’s really close,” said Pochettino. “As soon as possible we can have him involved again. After the next internationals maybe he could be involved.
“He’s a player that when you see the goals he scored last season, (you see) he provides goals, and I think we’re missing goals. That’s why we think he’s a player that can be important for us.
“He’s proved he can score goals in the Bundesliga. If today we had eight or 10 goals from Nkunku, maybe the situation (in the league) would be completely different.
“It’s goals that we are missing to be in a different position. It’s unlucky but we can’t complain, we need to work. We’re looking forward to recovering him and helping the team be in a different position.”
(Getty Images)
Chelsea vs Brentford prediction
10:37 , Alex Young
Pochettino is finally generating some momentum around the Blues and, with all due respect to their opponents, these are the games they will have to win to maintain it.
Brentford have not been their best selves this season and could struggle to hold out, even if they do get on the scoresheet.
Chelsea to win, 3-1.
Brentford team news
10:29 , Alex Young
Brentford have no new injury concerns for the short trip across west London.
Ben Mee – who had some game time for the B team on Wednesday – Shandon Baptiste, Josh Dasilva, Mikkel Damsgaard and Keane Lewis-Potter are all working their way back to full fitness but are unavailable.
The Bees, who are 14th and two points adrift of Chelsea after beating Burnley 3-0 last weekend, have upset their neighbours on their last two visits to Stamford Bridge.
The Bees enjoyed their biggest ever win over Chelsea with a 4-1 victory in April 2022. Twelve months later they won at Stamford Bridge again, this time by a 2-0 scoreline.
Frank said: “It’s no secret that, when we can, we want to go high in the pressure against Chelsea. We’ll do that every time we can against any opponent.
“Then we need to be aware of the ball in behind, but I think that’s a front-footed and very brave mindset to the game.
“We believe in ourselves and know we are a good team; we know we can create trouble for any team in this division. We need to bring that confidence and belief into the game against Chelsea.”
Chelsea injury news
10:19 , Alex Young
Armando Broja today remains out despite his presence in first-team training.
Chelsea have included the young striker on a seven-strong injury list and explained he is being “treated for irritation” in his knee.
Broja joins long-term injured stars Christopher Nkunku, Ben Chilwell, Romeo Lavia, Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana and Carney Chukwuemeka on the sidelines.
Mauricio Pochettino is expected to start with the same or a similar XI to that which excelled against Arsenal last weekend.
Reece James is expected to continue on the bench with Malo Gusto continuing at right back, while Thiago Silva, Levi Colwill and the in-form Marc Cucurella will complete the backline.
The midfield should consist of the settled trio of Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher. Raheem Sterling, Cole Palmer and Mykhailo Mudryk will likely complete the XI up front.
(Action Images via Reuters)
Where to watch Chelsea vs Brentford
10:11 , Alex Young
TV channel: In the UK, the game will be televised live on TNT Sports, with coverage beginning at 11am BST ahead of kick-off at 12:30pm.
Live stream: Subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the TNT Sports app and website.
Welcome
10:03 , Alex Young
Good morning and welcome to the Standard’s LIVE coverage of the Premier League clash between Chelsea and Brentford.
It’s another London derby for the Blues, who have improved of late… but so have Brentford.
We have Nizaar Kinsella at Stamford Bridge there for us today, with kick–off at 12.30pm BST. Stick with us.
(REUTERS)
