Our Focus turns to the small matter of Brentford’s cup final. Saturday marks the 30th and final league match between the two sides at Griffin Park. The Bees are a dark horse this season and are slowly beginning to show signs of the fire power they have at their disposal. They’ve won their last 3 home games on the bounce including the very impressive 7-0 thrashing of Luton Town recently. Meanwhile, Fulham have had a frustrating week with a combination of injuries, terrible refereeing, poor team selections and no imagination or spark on the pitch.
Let’s hope Parker’s Black and White army are on song this weekend and can give Griffin Park a last Christmas it’ll never forget…
Head To Head
- Fulham Wins 21 | Draws 17 | Brentford Wins 20.
- This is the last League derby between the clubs at Griffin Park.
- Saturday is also the 30th time the clubs have met at Brentford’s traditional home. Our record there reads 29 games | 12 Wins | 4 Draws | 13 Losses.
- The first time the clubs met was at Griffin Park in December 1928. Fulham won 2-1.
Brentford in 2019/20
- League Position: 7th
- League Form: WLWLW
- Average Possession: 55.3%
Form Table (Last 6 Matches): 4th (12pts, same as Fulham who are 5th) - Clean sheets: 7
- Top Scorers: Ollie Watkins (13), Bryan Mbeumo (7)
- Discipline: 28 Yellows | 1 Red
- Both teams have only scored in 7 of Brentford’s 21 league games so far.
Players In Common
Jimmy Hill
Fulham: 297 apps, 52 goals (1952-1961)
Brentford: 83 appearances, 10 goals (1949-1952)
Simon Brown, Paul Brooker, Wayne Brown, Peter Buchanan, Terry Bullivant, David Button, Roger Cross, Danny Cullip, Tony Finnigan, John Fraser, Ryan Fredericks, Darren Freeman, Ron Greenwood, Jimmy Hill, Terry Hurlock, Richard Lee, Barry Lloyd, Archibald Macaulay, Alfie Mawson, Robert Milsom, Tony Parks, Gerry Peyton, Darren Pratley, John Salako, Barry Salvage, Tony Sealy, Les Strong, Marcello Trotta, Michael Turner, Paul Watson & Callum Willock.
Sam’s View (@SamCole2468)
On the back of another frustrating defeat to an out of form Preston side a big reaction is needed if we are going to stand a chance against Brentford. To take the political theme to its ridiculous limits, we need to recover quickly from green faces and return to a liberal free flowing style of play rather than labouring through with such a conservative game plan!! Parker could find himself under pressure if we find ourselves on the end of another poor result to our rivals. Scott has regularly stayed faithful to out of form players such as Knockaert and Onomah and failed to adapt to nullify the strengths of opposition teams.
With several players not pulling their weight I think a few changes are going to be needed in order to bring a positive result against Brentford. Bryan will have to come in for Odoi following the idiotic red card in the last game. There also has to be some big questions with Onomah, Cavaleiro and Knockaert all yet to find consistent form. I would like to see Cairney, Kebano and O’Riley stepping up from illness or a lack of opportunities. If Arter, Reed, Decordova-Reid and McDonald are still unavailable a 4-2-3-1 formation should be used with Cairney being restored to his number 10 role in behind Mitro with Kebano on the left and Kamara on the right giving a fresh impetus to the forward line.
Brentford will provide us with a tough task on Saturday being very strong at home. I think we will draw 2-2 with Mitro and Kamara scoring.
