Chelsea will be looking to make it a sixth win in all competitions under Graham Potter in October as they face off with Brentford on Wednesday night. After a not so convincing win at Aston Villa on Sunday, Potter’s men will be hoping for a much improved performance against the Bees.
Brentford had recently survived off the back of a 3 games winless streak to stop Brighton on their stride at the weekend. Thomas Frank and his boys will hope to channel some inspiration from the 1:4 win at Stamford bridge last season to halt the blues run of consecutive wins.
However, Chelsea understand the task ahead is a tricky one, they will have to be on the front foot to stop the inform Ivan Toney and the bees to avoid multiple stings. Stopping him will require twice as much effort as the blues defence put in when they faced off against the likes of Danny Ings and Olly Watkins against Villa.
Brentford Team news :
Brentford will be looking to halt their terrible run of midweek results when they welcome Chelsea at the community stadium.
The bees have lost 5 of their last 6 midweek matches home and away, their task will be made harder when they lock heads with an inform Chelsea side on Wednesday night.
With Thomas Strakosha, Aaron Hickey, Christopher Norgaard and Pontus Jansen very much likely to be out through injuries, Thomas Frank will be looking to rely on the same starting XI against Brighton at the weekend after a 4 days rest.
Chelsea Team news :
The blues are going to be without notable absentees in Reece James, Wesley Fofana and Ngolo Kante who are out with long term injuries.
Graham Potter confirmed that Thiago Silva had felt a bit of a niggle in his hamstring at the game against Villa, Potter will be hoping that his vastly experienced center back will be fully fit for selection come Wednesday night to nullify the Brentford attack.
Hakim Ziyech and Denis Zakaria will be hoping to get a look in despite being snubbed in recent games as rotation will be needed to get through the busy schedule before the world cup.
Brentford potential line up : (4-3-3) Brentford; GK Raya, Ajer, Pinnock, Mee, Henry, Jansen, Janelt, Onyeka, Mbueno, Toney, Wissa.
Chelsea potential line up : GK Kepa, Chalobah, Silva, Koulibaly, Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Loftus Cheek, Chilwell, Mount, Aubamayang, Sterling.
My preferred Chelsea line up : (3-4-3) GK Kepa, Chalobah, Silva, Koulibaly, Azpilicueta, Loftus Cheek, Kovacic, Chilwell, Gallagher, Aubamayang, Mount.
Score prediction : Brentford 1:2 Chelsea
Chelsea struggled for any sort of control against Aston Villa at the weekend, it was a long afternoon of save after save as Kepa’s heroics was enough to keep Villa at bay. It will take more than that to stop the in form Ivan Toney on his quest to win himself a spot on the England team list heading out to Qatar in December.
While this has all the components it needs to be a difficult night for the blues, Chelsea will be hoping Mount and Kepa’s heroism doesn’t stop at Villa Park, as there’s no break for heroes.
