Brentford v Chelsea kicks off at 17:30 on Saturday, 16th October in the Brentford Community Stadium. Anthony Taylor will take charge of this round-eight match.

The game will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League Ireland.

Brentford are in near perfect form going into this tie. They have secured three wins from their last four games, only drawing to Liverpool 3-3 two weeks ago. An important part of their success is their solidity at home, yet to be beaten in the Community Stadium.

The Hornets being victorious on Saturday would still be a major upset and they will need strikers Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbuemo in full strength.

On the other side of the field, Chelsea are not in amazing form. They have only managed one win in their last four games but still sit on top. One thing in the Blues’ favour is that they are still unbeaten away from home.

Thomas Tuchel still has a powerful squad to choose from this weekend especially if Timo Werner continues his promising goalscoring run.

These two clubs last faced each other in the FA Cup in 2017. As like all of their recent matches, Chelsea ran out 4-0 winners. This game will be much closer with the clubs on closer footing, Chelsea in first and Brentford in seventh.

The gorgeous Stamford Bridge the last time Chelsea played Brentford. pic.twitter.com/bOMY1jXwUo

— Alex Goldberg (@AlexGoldberg_) October 14, 2021

Brentford v Chelsea Probable Starting Teams

Brentford

Formation

3-5-2

Probable Starting 11

Raya (GK), Pinnock, Jansson, Jorgensen, Henry, Onyeka, Norgaard, Baptiste, Canos, Toney, Mbeumo.

Injuries / Suspensions

Dasilva (Hip), Ajer (Hamstring), Bech (Knee), Baptiste (Dislocated shoulder), Janelt (Thigh)

Chelsea

Formation

3-4-2-1

Probable Starting 11

Mendy (GK), Chalobah, Silva, Christensen, Alonso, Kovacic, Jorginho, Azpilicueta, Havertz, Mount, Werner.

Injuries / Suspensions

Rudiger (Back), Pulisic (Ankle), Lukaku (Muscle injury)

THIS GAME

Yoane Wissa brings Brentford level again!!

Watch #BRELIV live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event pic.twitter.com/9RU7gvE5yt

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 25, 2021

Brentford v Chelsea Betting

Brentford: 11/2

Draw: 11/4

Chelsea: 4/7

Score Prediction

It is not hard to see that this is clearly Chelsea’s game to lose. Although they have a few injuries, the full strength of the squad will be enough to overcome Brentford’s top-flight cristianed defense.

Expect the game to end 3-0 to Chelsea.

'That's the one!'

Outrageous, @kaihavertz29! pic.twitter.com/D78Ry38mhl

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 14, 2021

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This game will mark the first competitive fixture between Crystal Palace and Brentford since the 16th of August 1977 where Crystal Palace came out 5-1 victors in the League Cup.

Crystal Palace is entering a fresh new start under recently appointed Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira.

Vieira was appointed in the summer after the departure of Roy Hodgson after four years in the Selhurst Park dugout.

While Brentford is coming into this game after a monumental debut in the Premier League with a stunning 2-0 home win over Arsenal.

Crystal Palace Retrospective

Coming into this season, Crystal Palace is in a year of transition after parting ways with Roy Hodgson.

Patrick Vieira has taken over at the London club and has a major task on his hands for the next few months to steer Palace away from relegation in his first season.

In his first competitive game as manager, he oversaw his team lose 3-0 away to Chelsea.

Chelsea dominated the game from the start and took the lead with a stunning free-kick from Marcos Alonso after 27 minutes.

Christian Pulisic doubled their lead 5 minutes before half-time before Trevor Chalobah finished the game on 58 minutes to seal all three points for the Blues.

Overall, Palace created very little in terms of offence, having 4 shots in 90 minutes with 1 shot on target is nothing to write home about.

However, playing Chelsea is a lot different to playing Brentford, so there will be more opportunities in front of goal.

Brentford Retrospective

For their first game ever in the Premier League, Brentford showed that they could cut it against the bigger teams.

Arsenal came to the Brentford Community Stadium with a weakened team, but take nothing away from the hosts. They deserved all 3 points.

Sergi Canos opened the scoring for the home side after a sharp turn and fired the ball in past Bernd Leno at his near post to stun the Gunners.

After that, it was all Brentford and on 73 minutes a long throw-in bounced over a host of players before Christian Norgaard jumped high to head home their second to give them their first top-flight win in over 75 years.

Date, kick-off time and venue

This London derby between Crystal Palace and Brentford will kick off at 3 pm BST (British Summer Time) on Saturday, August 21, 2021, at Selhurst Park.

Where to watch Crystal Palace vs Brentford

As the Premier League returns to its original 3 pm scheduling format with the return of fans to stadiums, this match will not be televised live in the UK.

Crystal Palace vs Brentford team news

Young centre-back Kristoffer Ajer picked up an ankle injury in their win over Arsenal and is currently being assessed.

For Palace, there are no new injury concerns.

Crystal Palace vs Brentford prediction

On the surface, Palace should win this, given the vast amount of players that would walk into the Brentford team.

However, Palace is still a work in progress, with manager Patrick Vieira asking for patience from the Palace fateful.

Losing to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is not an embarrassing feat in anyone’s mind, but they were for more ways than one, dominated in every aspect.

Opponents Brentford truly outclassed an awful Arsenal performance on Friday night. Defensively solid and vibrant in their attack.

I can see an improvement from Palace here, but not enough to halt the hype around Brentford.

Prediction: Brentford 1-0

Predicted Line-Up

Crystal Palace Predicted XI – (4-4-2)

V.Guaita, T. Mitchell, C. Kouyate, M. Guehi, J. Ward, J. Schlupp, J. Riedewald, J.McArthur, J. Ayew, J. Philippe Mateta, W.Zaha.

Brentford Predicted XI – (3-5-2)

D. Raya, K. Ajer, P. Jansson, E. Pinnock, S. Canós, F. Onyeka, C. Norgaard, V. Janelt, R. Henry, B. Mbeumo, I. Toney.

Betting Odds

Crystal Palace To Win: 13/8

Draw: 2/1

Brentford d to Win: 9/5

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Last season the Gunners had a record low of finishing in ninth place, outside of the European places and without any cup silverware. It was their worst year in the entire history of the Premier League and this season has started off badly.

Yesterday Arsenal travelled to Brentford for the opening game of the season. Before kick-off, they were already on the back foot as captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and striker Alexandre Lacazette were ruled out with illness.

With Eddie Nketiah already injured, Arteta was forced to start young forward Folarin Balogun. Arsenal’s starting team had an average age of 24.

The highlight of the match from Arsenal’s point of view was the return of young English winger Bukayo Saka who was given a standing ovation when he was substituted on.

Brentford was comfortably the better side as they won 2-0. First, there was a smart finish Sergi Canos and then a Christian Norgaard header to seal the tie.

Although the Gunners finished the game with 65 per cent possession and 22 shot, only four needed to be saved. Nicolas Pepe nearly scored in the final few minutes but every other shot landed easily in the keeper’s gloves.

"It's just Arsenal."

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 13, 2021

Naturally, former players and fans have shown their frustration towards the side. Arsenal legend Ian Wright released a tweet about the disgust he felt towards the performance.

But for real though. It's the opening game of the season and you can't match the intensity?!!! You know for months what we gonna be up against! Pre-match I said we'd be happy with a draw! A draw!! That's where we are! But to not even match them? Just passing sideways. Kmt.

— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) August 13, 2021

Many fans have already begun the shouts for manager Mikel Arteta to lose his job. He will have questions to answer in the coming days, and if he cannot improve then he might be given as warm of an exit as his predecessor Unai Emery.

Things do not get much easier for the Gunners as their next two games are against the Premier League winners and the Champions League winners.

Arsenal will next face Chelsea at home at 16:30 on Sunday the 22nd of August.

A Brentford fan is in tears at full-time after winning their first top-flight game for 74 years pic.twitter.com/rd9QcdVqnj

— PF | Transfer News (@PurelyFootball) August 13, 2021

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The match will kick off at 20:00 on Friday 13th August. Sky Sports Premier will show live coverage of the match for those at home.

This is Brentford’s long-awaited return to the English top-flight, the last time they were in this league was in 1947. They made it up by the skin of their teeth after winning the play-off finals.

The Bees are an attack-minded side that successfully blends a strong pressing game with patience in possession. This attack is spearheaded by record goalscorer Ivan Toney, he managed 31 goals in 45 Championship games last season.

Arsenal, instead, is a team that has been in the Premier League since its inception but are at their lowest point in recent history.

Manager Mikel Arteta is attempting to bring this club out of its slump using Arsenal’s youth. Now, he is mixing in new transfers, expect to see former Brighton defender Ben White and Anderlecht midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga make their competitive debuts for the club.

Both sides will be hungry for the win this evening so if the game is not nervy then it should be full of entertainment.

After 76 days, it feels 𝘀𝗼 good to finally say…

IT’S MATCHDAY, GOONERS!

#BREARS pic.twitter.com/ruoZ8jQB5H

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 13, 2021

Predicted Lineups

Brentford

Formation

3-5-2

Predicted Starting 11

Raya (GK), Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock, Roerslev, Janelt, Onyeka, Norgaard, Henry, Mbeumo, Toney

Injuries

Dasilva, Jensen

Arsenal

Formation

4-2-3-1

Predicted Starting 11

Leno (GK), Tierney, Mari, White, Saka, Lokonga, Xhaka, Aubamayang, Smith-Rowe, Pépé, Lacazette

Injuries

Nketiah, Gabriel, Holding, Partey

Betting

Brentford is underdogs with odds of 7/2 to win today.

A draw has odds of 5/2.

Arsenal to win away from home has odds of 4/5.

A 𝙈𝘼𝙏𝘾𝙃𝘿𝘼𝙔 we've waited 74 years for#BrentfordFC #BREARS pic.twitter.com/fy6mCYOluj

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) August 13, 2021

Score Prediction

This will be a nervy game for Brentford, this first game back in the Premier League. Arsenal, on the other hand, is starting another rebirth in hopes of getting back to European football.

This game will be close but the Gunners will take a 2-1 win to earn their first three points.

"They will be a really tough opponent for everyone in the Premier League."

Mikel Arteta is impressed with the chemistry and belief that he has seen from Brentford pic.twitter.com/xKAtl1nsCb

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 12, 2021

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