MY ACCOUNT
Late goals brought contrasting emotions to Brentford and Everton last Saturday and both teams will be looking to make brighter starts when they meet at Gtech Community Stadium seven days later.
The Bees were behind after 45 seconds against Fulham and two goals down before they found a rhythm approaching anything they had produced against Manchester United the previous Saturday.
Ivan Toney, pressing potential claims for an England World Cup squad berth, led the fightback to level it at 2-2 in the second half – but it was Fulham goal machine Aleksandar Mitrovic who had the final say with a towering header in the 90th minute.
For the Toffees, Demarai Gray made the most of Jordan Pickford’s long ball when his well-timed burst, superb touch and finish secured a much-needed point against Nottingham Forest at Goodison Park.
The 88th-minute equaliser capped a strong finish to a game the Blues could have won, but for another fine goalkeeping display from Forest’s Dean Henderson.
Team news
Summer signing Mikkel Damsgaard made his Brentford debut in a fully-rotated XI at Colchester in the Carabao Cup in midweek, but seems unlikely to force his way into Thomas Frank’s settled league side.
The Dane may have to be content with a spot on the bench, alongside a number of other starters from the cup clash, like goalscorers Keane Lewis-Potter and Mads Bech Sorensen.
Kristoffer Ajer, Sergi Canos, (both hamstring) and Ethan Pinnock remain out while there is a fresh doubt around the status of Mads Roerslev.
The defender was substituted after taking a knock to the ankle in a tackle on Tuesday night and will be assessed by the Bees’ medical staff.
Everton could be unchanged in defence, although Mason Holgate was seen holding the back of his thigh in the final minute of the Forest game and was understandably left out of the matchday squad at Fleetwood.
It would be a major blow if he was to miss the trip to London through injury as manager Frank Lampard is already without centre-backs Ben Godfrey (fractured fibula) and Yerry Mina (ankle).
Tom Davies is likely to continue alongside Alex Iowbi in midfield with Abdoulaye Doucoure currently nursing a thigh injury.
The big question mark in attack concerns whether Chelsea target Anthony Gordon is still an Everton player by the time Lampard names his team.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has returned to the training pitch but is not likely to challenge for a place again until mid-September, while Andros Townsend is scheduled to return in early 2023.
The stats
There were two penalties, two red cards and an own goal across the two Premier League fixtures between these clubs last season – both of which were won by Brentford.
The Bees currently have the highest shot accuracy (44.1%) and goal conversion rate (23.5%) among the entire Premier League.
Everton are only behind Leeds (48) and Chelsea (37) for tackles won so far this term with 36 recorded across their three matches.
Gordon currently has the second-most shots on target among Premier League players (7), one fewer than Fulham’s Mitrovic.
But fellow Toffees attacker Salomon Rondon has been a peripheral figure in their play, touching the ball just 20 times in his 83 minutes of action on the pitch so far.
Prediction
Brentford should bounce back from their London derby setback with a win at home – where they have emerged victorious in four of their last six Premier League games.
Toney is bang in form for the Bees and could torment Everton’s depleted backline just as easily as he did Fulham’s last week when he was unlucky not to score more than once.
The Toffees’ cagey approach in the early stages last weekend almost cost them when they were left with little time to recover from Forest’s opener.
If Lampard maintains the same approach, the visitors are likely to find themselves chasing the game again on Saturday.
