In the modern era, any manager that suffers 12 league defeats in a 15-game period would usually find themselves under immense pressure to keep their job, but that does not appear to be the case with Brentford boss Thomas Frank, who seemingly has the full support of the Bees board to turn their fortunes around.
Brentford had reason to be optimistic ahead of Monday’s contest with another out-of-form side in West Ham United, but the Bees were beaten 4-2 at the London Stadium. Jarrod Bowen’s hat-trick and an Emerson Palmieri wonder strike ultimately cancelled out goals from Neal Maupay and Yoane Wissa to condemn the visitors to their third consecutive loss.
After finishing ninth in the Premier League table last season, Brentford are languishing in 16th place this term and remain firmly in the relegation picture as they sit just five points above the drop zone with 12 games remaining – three of which are against the current bottom three.
Before facing the first of those – Burnley away on March 16 – Brentford have back-to-back London derbies to prepare for against Chelsea and Arsenal. The Bees have performed well against the former in recent years as they have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three meetings, including a goalless home draw and two 2-0 away wins.
Brentford may have only won one of their last six home games in all competitions since mid-December, but they will fancy their chances of completing their first league double over Chelsea since the 1938-39 campaign when the two teams face off on Saturday.
Three days after their gut-wrenching EFL Cup final defeat in extra time to Liverpool, Chelsea initially showed signs of a hangover in their FA Cup fifth-round tie at home to Leeds United on Wednesday, as Mateo Joseph put the visitors into an eighth-minute lead.
The Blues responded well and turned the game on its head thanks to strikes from Nicolas Jackson and Mykhaylo Mudryk, before Joseph headed Leeds level just before the hour mark. The contest looked to be heading into extra time, but Conor Gallagher’s 90th-minute goal helped the hosts run out 3-2 victors and secure their spot in the quarter-finals.
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Mauricio Pochettino’s side have been rewarded with a last-eight tie at home to Championship leaders Leicester City in two weeks’ time, but they must first shift their focus back to the Premier League as they endeavour to climb back into the top half of the table and boost their hopes of securing European football for next season.
Aa a result of an inconsistent 2023-24 campaign, Chelsea find themselves sitting 11th in the top-flight standings after 10 wins, five draws and 10 defeats from 25 matches, nine points adrift of Manchester United in sixth and four points behind Brighton & Hove Albion in seventh spot.
Pochettino and co admirably claimed a point in their last top-flight match – a 1-1 draw at reigning champions Manchester City – after winning away at both Crystal Palace and Aston Villa by 3-1 scorelines, but further success on the road this weekend is not a given for the Blues as they have only won one of their five Premier League meetings with Brentford – their lowest win rate (20%) against an opponent they have faced at least five times in the division.
