Patrick Vieira is close to having a fully fit squad of players and will be keen to select his strongest starting eleven in an effort to grab more points away from home, something that has been a struggle all season for Palace.
DATE
12th February 2022
KICK OFF
3pm
VENUE
Lionel Road, Brentford TW8 0RU
LAST TIME
The two sides have met each other very rarely in recent years other than in pre-season friendly matches. The game at Selhurst earlier in the season ended goalless which was the first competitive meeting between them since 1977.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Vicente Guaita (7.5)
OFFICIALS
Referee: Simon Hooper. Assistants: Simon Long, Derek Eaton. Fourth official: Robert Jones. VAR: John Brooks. Assistant VAR: Constantine Hatzidakis
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Cheikhou Kouyate is back from a successful AFCON campaign and will be assessed before the game. James Tomkins and James McArthur may have to be content with places on the bench
BRENTFORD – Ivan Toney is pushing for a return to the starting line up after a calf injury
DISCIPLINARY
RED CARDS – Wilfried Zaha (1), Shandon Baptiste (1)
YELLOW CARDS (5+) – Joel Ward (6), Conor Gallagher (6), Christian Norgaard (6), Ivan Toney (5), Sergi Canos (5)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 21/08/21 Palace 0-0 Brentford
- 16/08/77 Palace 5-1 Brentford
- 13/08/77 Brentford 2-1 Palace
- 11/01/64 Palace 1-0 Brentford
- 07/09/63 Brentford 2-1 Palace
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 09/02/22 Norwich 1-1 Palace
- 05/02/22 Palace 2-0 Hartlepool
- 23/01/22 Palace 1-3 Liverpool
- 14/01/22 Brighton 1-1 Palace
- 08/01/22 Millwall 1-2 Palace
Last FIVE results for Brentford;
- 09/02/22 City 2-0 Brentford
- 05/02/22 Everton 4-1 Brentford
- 22/01/22 Brentford 1-2 Wolves
- 19/01/22 Brentford 1-3 United
- 16/01/22 Liverpool 3-0 Brentford
RECORD AGAINST BRENTFORD
- Played 39
- Won 17
- Drawn 8
- Lost 14
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Conor Gallagher 7.34
- Ivan Toney 7.16
- Ethan Pinnock 6.96
- James McArthur 6.94
ONE TO WATCH
RICO HENRY
FORMER CLUBS – Cadbury Athletic, Walsall
The former Walsall man is a key part of this Brentford side and can cause Palace problems with his pace in the wing back position he so often plays. The England youth international has shown he has what it takes to compete at the top level of English football since Brentford were promoted to the Premier League.
KEY CLASH
WILL HUGHES v CHRISTIAN NORGAARD
The midfield battle will be an important part of this match up and Hughes will be up against the Dane who tops the Premier League statistics in tackles, just ahead of Tyrick Mitchell incidentally.
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- This is Brentford’s first home league game against Palace since a 2-1 win in September 1963
- Palace’s only victory in their past 13 away fixtures against Brentford in all competitions was by 3-0 in the Third Division South on Christmas Day 1957 (D4, L8)
- Brentford have lost 5 consecutive league matches for the first time since December 2007 in League Two. It’s their worst top-flight run since losing seven in a row in April 1947
- The longest Premier League losing streak by any team this season is 6: twice by Norwich City and once by Watford
- The Bees have suffered 6 straight defeats in all competitions, letting in 18 goals
- Thomas Frank’s side have conceded the opening goal in 16 of their past 17 Premier League games
- Brentford are on the second longest current run without a clean sheet in the Premier League, one behind Southampton’s 12-match streak
- Palace have only won once in 13 Premier League away games, beating Manchester City in October (D5, L7)
- Patrick Vieira’s side have managed just 2 league victories in their past 12 attempts and are winless in 4 since beating Norwich in December
- The Eagles’ solitary victory in their last 15 league London derbies came at home to Spurs in September (D7, L7)
- Wilfried Zaha is one short of becoming the first player to make 250 Premier League appearances for Palace
- Michael Olise has been directly involved in 7 goals in Palace’s six matches in all competitions in 2022, scoring three and setting up 4
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Conor Gallagher (7 – 11th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Michael Olise (4 – 15th in PL)
- PASSES – Marc Guehi (1463 – 8th in PL)
- TACKLES – Mitchell (67 – 2nd in PL)
- TOUCHES – Guehi (1699 – 9th in PL)
- SHOTS – Benteke (39)
- SAVES – Guaita (55 – 13th in PL)
DID YOU KNOW?
Former Palace owner Ron Noades bought the club in June 1998 and installed himself as Chairman and Manager, winning the Third Division title at the first attempt.
Having stood down as manager in November 2000 after an FA Cup defeat at home to Kingstonian, Noades declared he would sell the club to new owners. New manager Ray Lewington steered the club to an LDV Vans Trophy Final in April 2001.
Former Manchester United winger Steve Coppell was appointed manager that summer and led the club to the 2002 Second Division Play Off Final in his sole season in charge, but Brentford lost 2-0 to Stoke City at The Millennium Stadium. Ron Noades then relinquished management control to newly formed Supporters’ Trust Bees United in the spring of 2003.
PREDICTION
The Eagles are searching for only their second away win in the league this season and Vieira has the pick of his squad heading into the fixture. It will certainly not be easy as the hosts are currently on an awful run but we are going for Palace to add to their misery this weekend.
FINAL SCORE: 2-1 to Palace
BETTING ODDS
- Home – 13/8
- Draw – 2/1
- Away – 15/8
- Both teams to score – evens
RESOURCES
