Tonight, Brentford and Fulham will go head-to-head in a London derby, with both teams looking to continue their impressive form this season. The two rivals currently sit inside the Premier League’s top ten, with Brentford unbeaten in their last 11 games and Fulham hunting down a place in Europe.
Fulham, managed by Marco Silva, are only two points behind the top six and are loving life back in the top flight after being newly promoted. Meanwhile, the hosts, under the guidance of Thomas Frank, are also flying high and haven’t lost a league game since October.
The last time these two teams met in August, Fulham won 3-2 at Craven Cottage thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Aleksandar Mitrovic. However, tonight’s game promises to be just as entertaining.
The match will take place at the Gtech Community Stadium and is scheduled to kick off at 8 pm. TalkSPORT will have exclusive live coverage of the game presented by Adrian Durham, with commentary from Joe Shennan and former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy.
In terms of team news, Brentford’s starting XI will consist of Raya, Hickey, Pinnock, Mee, Henry, Norgaard, Jensen, Damsgaard, Wissa, Toney, and Mbeumo. Meanwhile, Fulham’s starting XI will feature Leno, Tete, Diop, Ream, Robinson, Reed, Lukic, Solomon, Pereira, Willian, and Mitrovic.
Ahead of the game, Fulham boss Marco Silva praised Brentford and named the clash “a proper derby” between the two London sides. He said: “They [Brentford] have been really consistent, they are really compact, a solid team as well. They can be a threat at any time in this competition, but at the same time they are solid, they are compact and they are strong in the duels as well. I think it will be a tough one and I think it will be a proper derby again. We are going to face a team in really good form. They’re unbeaten in the last 11 games in the Premier League. They know as well that they’re going to face a strong Fulham side and a team that is going to go there and fight for the three points.”
In terms of match facts, Fulham’s Manor Solomon has scored in each of his last three Premier League games as a substitute. Only one player has ever scored in four consecutive substitute appearances in the Premier League. Since their promotion to the Premier League in 2021, Ivan Toney has scored 31% of Brentford’s goals (26/85), the highest ratio of any player for a team to have played across both campaigns. Both Brentford and Fulham have scored a league-high 15 Premier League goals from set-pieces so far this season.
Brentford have never lost a Premier League game in which they’ve scored first (W17 D4), with 10 of those games coming this season (W8 D2). However, they’re one of just three sides yet to win when conceding first so far in 2022-23 (D6 L4). Fulham have won 11 Premier League games this season, last winning more in 2011-12 (14). They’ve also won five away games this term, their joint-most in a single Premier League campaign (also 2003-04).
After winning just one of 17 Premier League away games on a Monday between 2001-02 and 2018-19 (D5 L11), Fulham have won each of their last two (2-1 at Leicester in November 2020, 3-0 at Crystal Palace this season). Brentford are unbeaten in their last 11 Premier League games (W5 D6), the longest current run in the competition. However, they’ve won just one of their last nine league London derbies (D6 L2).
Fulham won the reverse fixture against Brentford 3-2 in August; they’ve only done a Premier League double over three London sides – Charlton in 2002-03, Tottenham in 2003-04 and QPR in 2011-12. Brentford have won four of their last five home league games against Fulham (L1), winning 1-0 the last time they hosted the Cottagers in league competition in December 2019 in the Championship.
Overall, tonight’s game promises to be an exciting one between two teams who have exceeded expectations this season.