Brentford v Fulham: Premier League – live
Key events
3 min Fulham get into the box and Lukic is breifly unmarked, but a red-and-white shrt nips back to deny him.
2 min Fulham deal with the corner comfortaby. But they’ve already got one thing wrong: their kit. They’re wearing lime green, which should not be allowed on a sunny afternoon.
1 min Brentford kick off, lump the ball forward and Igor Thiago wins a corner!
“Given today’s match between two solid London sides,” says Peter O’Connor, “a poser. If there were an independent state of London, where would its football league figure among the Big Five European leagues?”
That is a good question – too good for me when the kick-off is moments away, but one for everybody to ponder.
As Hey Jude rings out around the ground, the emails keep on coming. “Ask and ye shall receive,” says Karl. “Really like Brentford as a club – a friend of mine is a season-ticket holder and it seems to do it all right, not just on the pitch… However, can I go on record to say that if they qualify for Europe next season, they will be flirting with relegation.
“You (maybe) heard it here first.”
And another one – from a dissenting voice. “Is this the most vanilla fixture in the football league?” asks Andrew K. “No one’s emailing you because no one cares. I can’t think of a fixture between two local rivals that has less fascination and interest for fans other than for the teams’ fans themselves.”
In the football league? That’s a bit harsh. I’m enjoying it already and it hasn’t even started.
An email! From the away end. “Turning up late season at the Gtech with the primary aim being to spoil Brentford’s European ambitions is giving serious déjà vu,” says Kit Clifford-Page, “but a win would put Fulham firmly back in the European conversation so there is everything to play for.
“Hopefully Tom Cairney’s first league start since the horrific home loss to West Ham is better calculated by Silva today and Harry ‘Beekeeper’ Wilson adds to his famous resume. Come on Fulham!”
All quiet on the west London front. If you’ve never sent us an email, now might be a good time.
Teams in full
A tale of two benches … Brentford’s is short of experience and stuffed with defenders, whereas Fulham’s has a full front six and flair to spare.
Brentford (4-2-3-1) Kelleher; Kayode, van den Berg, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Yarmoliuk, Jensen; Ouattara, Damsgaard, Schade; Thiago.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Shield, Ajer, Pinnock, Stephenson, Nelson, Bentt, Donovan.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon; Lukic, Cairney; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Muniz.
Subs: Lecomte, Diop, Robinson, Berge, Reed, King, Bobb, Chukwueze, Jimenez.
Teams in brief: Fulham shake it up
Marco Silva makes four changes to the side that lost 2-0 at Anfield. Sasa Lukic is ready for his first start in three months, but he doesn’t resume his partnership with Sander Berge, who drops to the bench as Tom Cairney comes in. Lukic’s return frees Alex Iwobi to roam forward again. He’ll be cutting in from the left to join Emile Smith Rowe, who replaces Josh King as the 10. At left-back, Ryan Sessegnon is preferred to Antonee Robinson.
Teams in brief: no surprises for Brentford
After seeing Everton grab a last-gasp equaliser last weekend, Keith Andrews sees no reason to change a drawing team. It’s a strong XI but, with Jordan Henderson still ruled out by an unnamed injury, the bench looks a bit skimpy.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to a feast of a weekend in the Premier League. There’s a lot more on the menu than a mere title decider. There’s the Merseyside derby, with Everton at home in their new stadium and, for once, in better shape than Liverpool. There’s Spurs, in spectacular disarray, taking on Brighton, the best team in the league over the past two months. There’s Chelsea, who haven’t scored against a top-flight club for five weeks, facing Man United, who seem to have mislaid all their centre-backs.
And first there’s Brentford v Fulham, which is more appetising than it may look. It’s not just a local derby – it’s a six-pointer that will have a say in who makes it into Europe. If Brentford win, they’ll go from seventh to sixth, above Chelsea, and, if only for a few hours, these quiet over-achievers will be lording it over west London. If Fulham win, they’ll jump from 12th to ninth and draw level on points with Brentford.
The biggest threat on either side is obviously Igor Thiago, the Haaland of the south. But he may have his work cut out because the past three games between these sides have all ended with a win for Fulham. In the reverse fixture, Brentford took an early lead, only to be battered by three goals in six minutes before half-time. One of them was scored by Harry Wilson, who eats Brentford defenders for breakfast. As my colleague Taha Hashim pointed out yesterday, Wilson has four goals in his past 118 minutes against these opponents.
But then that last meeting was seven months ago, before Brentford had got going under Keith Andrews. It left them 17th, while Fulham were eighth (just above Man City), Spurs were third and Liverpool were the runaway leaders. This has been a season in which everybody turned out to be fallible, even the team who have been top for months. And that makes almost every game interesting.
