‘s injury situation
Brentford boss Thomas Frank has praised Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard and labelled the Blues as ‘clear favourites’ for their upcoming West London derby. Lampard returned to Stamford Bridge earlier this month, following the sacking of Graham Potter, and has seen his side lose all four games under his management so far, including crashing out of the Champions League. Despite this, Frank believes Lampard has improved Chelsea and that they should still be considered favourites for Wednesday’s meeting with the Bees, despite Brentford being higher than them in the Premier League table.
Frank said: ‘I think we all know that Chelsea have been struggling a little bit this season. [They have] very good players. I know they haven’t won, but I think clearly in the four games [Lampard] has been in charge they are playing with bigger energy, more intensity on the eye and also on the numbers. It’s top players, and at the end of the day they bought players for £600 million in the past two transfer windows and they haven’t forgotten how to play football. Sometimes it takes one moment. Now they had a good week to work with them at Stamford Bridge. They are clear favourites of course. They should be. But we hope and believe that we can do something.’
Brentford currently sit one spot above 11th-placed Chelsea in the table, with five more points, although they have played one game more. The two sides played out a 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture at the Gtech Community Stadium in October.