Chelsea F.C. will welcome local London rivals Brentford F.C. to Stamford Bridge on Saturday in what will hopefully be a tightly contested London derby.

Chelsea will go into the match after the international break off the back of an impressive six-game winning streak including beating LOSC Lille in the champions league and dumping  Middlesbrough F.C. out of the FA cup.

The match on Saturday is pivotal in order for Chelsea to gain momentum before they have to play a difficult quarter-final first leg tie in the champions league against Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Brentford will come into the match off the back of a mixed set of results having won by two goals to nil against Burnley before losing to Leicester City before the international break.

 

Although Brentford are currently eight points above the relegation zone they have got a tough run of matches coming up including against Europe chasing West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United meaning they will need to try and get points from every game otherwise they could slip down the table.

Team news

Thomas Tuchel has received a much-needed injury boost ahead of the match with Brentford. Ben Chilwell is still set to miss out as he continues his recovery however Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Saul Niguez, and Andreas Christensen are all in contention to start on Saturday. 

Meanwhile Thomas Frank has also received injury boosts ahead of the match with Chelsea. Josh Dasilva should be available again following his three match suspension while forward Saman Ghoddos should also be fit having recovered from COVID-19 however Julian jeanvier is still set to miss out.

Players to watch

Romelu Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku has found it difficult to get into the starting line up for Chelsea in the premier league and champions league however he did start and score against Middlesbrough in the FA cup to help Chelsea get through and as a result will be pushing for a starting place on saturday.

In addition Lukaku along with Belgium's other best  players was not selected for his national team during the international break meaning he has had time to train and recover and hopefully make an impact against Brentford on Saturday.

Christian Eriksen

When Brentford announced they had signed Christian Eriksen in January a few people had doubts as to whether he could compete again at the highest level however he proved them wrong but unfortunately got covid meaning he could not play against Leicster.

However, Eriksen was selected for Denmark's national team and played exceptionally well scoring a rocket against the Netherlands as well as scoring in front of his home crowd. Brentford will hope he is able to cause the stubborn Chelsea defence some problems.

Last time out

The last time these two faced each other was in the Carabo Cup as Chelsea ran out two-nil winners.

The match started off at a slow pace then in the 11th minute brentford got the first chance of the match. Bryan Mbeumo made great progress down the wing before whipping in a dangerous cross into the box that Yoane Wissa got his head on however his header from close range was saved by Kepa.

Chelsea got their first major chance of the match in the 37th minute. Cesar Azpilicueta flicked the ball on with his head into the path of Trevoh Chalobah however his right footed shot was brilliantly saved by the Brentford goalkeeper.

The second half was again a very tight and cagey affair with neither team creating clear cut opportunites then eventually in the 80th minute Chelsea got a break. Chelsea won the ball back and quickly put the ball back in the Brentford penalty area however Pontus Jansson managed to steer the ball past his own goalkeeper into the net.

The win was all but confirmed for Chelsea five minutes later when Jorginho converted a penalty. Christian Pulisic went on mazy run beating Brentford defenders before being synically brought down in the box and being awarded a penalty that Jorginho dispatched with ice cold composure.

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