Palace Kick Off New Campaign At Brentford

Well, here we are! A summer full of sport is over and we are back for yet another Premier League campaign as the Eagles kick off at Brentford hoping to pick up from where they left off.

MATCH INFORMATION

• 2pm – 18 August 2024
• Gtech Community Stadium, Lionel Road South, Brentford TW8 0RU

PREVIOUS MEETING

26/08/2023 – The Eagles returned from the short trip across London with a well earned point in their back pocket thanks to a rare goal from Danish defender Joachim Andersen who levelled things up after the hosts took an early lead courtesy of Kevin Schade. To bet on the Eagles or their matchup, one can take a tour on pages like wsmcasino.com.

WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Joachim Anderson (8.9)

MATCH OFFICIALS

TEAM NEWS

PALACE – Matheus Franca is not available due a rib injury. Chris Richards has been passed fit after limping off against Nantes, Cheick Doucoure will face a late fitness test after missing much of last season with a serious injury. 

BRENTFORD – Josh Dasilva and Igor Thiago are both ruled out because of knee injuries. Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry are both to be assessed.  

DISCIPLINARY RECORD

This is the section of our match preview that highlights those that have not been the best of friends with match officials as the season goes on. Of course, they all begin with a clean slate, but we will start to see those that will be heading for a ban or two as the campaign progresses. 

RED CARDS – None

YELLOW CARDS – None

FORM GUIDE

Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;

Last FIVE results for Palace:

Last FIVE results for Brentford;

LEAGUE POSITION

The Eagles kick off the season in 7th with 0 points from 0 games played, while Brentford start in 4th with 0 points from the same amount of games….. Yes, we are just filling gaps for now!

RECORD AGAINST BRENTFORD

FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED

This is the section of our match preview where we list two players from each side that are top of the ratings by our friends over at Who Scored. Obviously, there are no ratings to share at the moment but that will soon change!

ONE TO WATCH

IVAN TONEY

FORMER CLUBS – Northampton Town, Newcastle United, Barnsley (loan), Shrewsbury Town (loan), Scunthorpe United (loan), Wigan Athletic (loan), Peterborough United

It is expected that the England international will line up against Palace in the opening game after much speculation across the summer on where his future may be, but the Bees have managed to retain his services for the moment even though there is still some time until the transfer deadline comes to a close. 

KEY CLASH

CHEICK DOUCOURE v CHRISTIAN NORGAARD

The return of the Mali international (should he start this opening fixture) will be like a new signing after missing much of last season due to injury. In fact, it is clear that he has become a forgotten man but there was a reason why Liverpool were sniffing around before the midfielder succumbed to injury. He will likely be up against the combative Danish international who featured for his country at the Euros. 

PRE-MATCH STATS

This is the section of our match preview where we keep a tally on the statistics for Palace players as the campaign continues and how they compare to other Premier League players. 

PRE-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE

On the squad’s fitness: “All players are fit and available other than Matheus Franca. After his injury, he trained with us, and unfortunately he fractured his rib again so he will be out for the next weeks.”

On Marc Guehi, who is linked with a move to Newcastle United: “Marc trained today and we talked together. I’ve had no other information. We plan with Marc. He’s our player and our captain, I can’t tell you anything else.”

On summer signing Daichi Kamada: “We were looking for which players could help us and Daichi is a player who is creative and who can score goals, like he showed against Nantes. He knows how we want to play, so it made it a little bit easier to integrate him in the way of playing. From the first day, he understood it, because we worked together for two years.”

Glasner said Adam Wharton’s summer break was too short, adding: “He’s a great guy. He’s a great character. He’s working hard in training. He’s one of the guys who is not on his highest fitness level but now he’s up again, and he’s a fantastic player. He shows it every day in training.”

On Sunday’s opponents: “I know it’s a very good, well organised team. Thomas Frank is a great manager. They have clear structure in the game, very variable in building up. They switch from a back four to a back three with five players high, playing very quick in behind and a lot of runs. This is what we all know about Brentford. But again, we feel ready there to extend the streak.”

Glasner says he is “very happy” with the state of his squad: “It was a tricky pre-season because we had many players with their national teams This week was the first week the squad was complete so we have the players on different fitness levels. But we have a great mood on the pitch, we have a great mood in the dressing room and I’m very confident we are ready for the start.”

THE NUMBERS

TEB PREDICTION

It is always rather difficult to make a prediction on the opening game of the season, especially where Palace are away from home. However, with all the excitement after how the Eagles ended the previous campaign, the club is on a high and Oliver Glasner will be very keen to keep that going for as long as possible. In contrast, the hosts were a disappointment last season as will be keen to get off to a good start. We are going for the safe prediction of a point a piece. 

FINAL SCORE: 1-1

RESOURCES

• Who Scored
• Physio Room
• HOL Online
• BBC Sport