Our Focus turns to Saturday lunchtime as the season resumes at Craven Cottage with the small matter of the West London derby…
Head To Head
- Fulham Wins – 21
- Draws – 17
- Brentford Wins – 21
- Goals For – 77
- Goals against – 82
- Biggest Wins – Fulham 5-0 Brentford (1947/48), Fulham 5-0 Brentford (1952/53)
Last 5 games
- Brentford 1-0 Fulham
- Fulham 1-1 Brentford
- Brentford 3-1 Fulham
- Fulham 1-1 Brentford
- Brentford 0-2 Fulham
Last Time Out
Brentford 1-0 Fulham
It was disappointment for Parker’s side in our final visit to Griffin Park. The Bees hit the woodwork 3 times whilst Neeskens Kebano also hit the upright in the first half. But there was little else in terms of Fulham chances and the decisive moment came in the 22nd minute when Bryan Mbeumo volleyed in Said Benrahma’s lofted ball at the back post.
Players in Common
Paul Brooker, Simon Brown, Wayne Brown, Peter Buchanan, Terry Bullivant, David Button, David Carlton, Glenn Cockerill, Roger Cross, Danny Cullip, John Fraser, Tony Finnigan, Ryan Fredericks, Darren Freeman, Ron Greenwood, Kelley Haag, Jimmy Hill, Terry Hurlock, Richard Lee, Barry Lloyd, Archibald Macaulay, Tony Mahoney Alfie Mawson, Robert Milsom, Tony Parks, Gerry Peyton, Darren Pratley, John Salako, Barry Salvage, Steve Scrivens, Paul Scrubb, Tony Sealy, Les Strong, Marcello Trotta, Michael Turner, Paul Watson & Callum Willock.
Team News
Fulham: Kongolo (foot)
Brentford: No players unavailable
Score Prediction
Fulham View: Ivan Berry
Fulham 1-0 Brentford
Brentford View: Beesotted Podcast
Fulham 0-2 Brentford
Former Player: Maik Taylor
Fulham 2-0 Brentford
Battle to Watch
Tom Cairney vs Christian Norgaard
With most of the attention in the lead up to this game being drawn towards the impressive performances of Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma, Christian Norgaard’s impact on his team has gone slightly under the radar. Bought from Fiorentina for a reported £2.8 million in the summer, the defensive midfielder has helped Brentford towards having the second-best defence in the league. With an average of 2.6 tackles per game and 1.8 interceptions, his battle with Tom Cairney in the centre of the park will be crucial in deciding the result of the game.
Sam’s View (@SamCole2468)
Having already written two previews for Fulham facing Brentford in the Championship this season I didn’t think I would be writing a third. As we go through these uncertain times it’s nice to have football back and what better way to get the Championship back up and running than a West London derby. Before the unexpected break, Fulham had the best form in the league so it will be interesting to see if we still have that positive momentum against a Brentford side just four points below us.
Having seen how hard it is to predict the fitness and availability of players on the first game back from the break, firstly in the Bundesliga and then in the rest of Europe, I am going to give my opinion on who I think should start if they are all fully fit and available to play. Rodak, one of our players of the season should start in goal with Odoi, Hector, Ream and Bryan in the defence. I would then play a midfield three with McDonald behind Cairney and Johansen. I feel like it is important to have players who have played in this fixture before and are reliable. I would then start Mitro at the point of attack with Cavaleiro on the left and Knockaert on the right. Kamara and Decordova-Reid ready to come on if needed to give us some creativity and pace off the bench.
With the first game back for many sides being low scoring due to a lack of fitness I think this game will be the same. I think we will beat Brentford 1-0 with a Mitro goal.
