CHELSEA will be looking to heap even more pressure on Thomas Frank with a win over Brentford.
The Blues face the Bees at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in what could prove to be a tense West London derby.
Mauricio Pochettino is in need of a win himself in the Premier League, with the club currently slumped in the bottom half.
Chelsea sit 11th in the league after their draw with Manchester City in their last outing in the competition.
To make matters worse for the big-spenders they went on to lose the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
Although there has been a small revival in midweek as they edged out Championship outfit Leeds in the 5th round of the FA Cup.
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Brentford, however, are in deep trouble after an appalling run of form has seen them drop to 16th.
Thomas Frank’s men do have a good record going into the match having won three of their last four matches against Chelsea.
They will be desperate to see that form continue after their 4-2 loss to West Ham on Monday evening.
Jarrod Bowen bagged twice in the opening seven minutes before going to score a hat-trick.
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Should the Bees fall to another defeat and Nottingham Forest and Luton Town win, they could find themselves dragged further into the relegation battle.
Chelsea, on the other hand, could propel themselves into the top half and overtake Wolves and Newcastle if they win.
Another loss, however, could see even more pressure mount on Pochettino.
Chelsea could drop to 12th place should Fulham beat Brighton and Hove Albion by a healthy goal margin.
This would be disastrous for the Blues as it could make them set for back-to-back bottom-half finishes for the first time since 1996.
What is their form like?
Chelsea’s form has been a mixed bag during their last five Premier League outings.
The Blues have won twice, lost twice and drawn once.
Their last league win came on February 12 against Crystal Palace.
Brentford have lost five of their last six games in the league with their only positive result being a 2-0 win over Wolves.
The Bees have had a tough run of fixtures having played Manchester City twice as well as Liverpool and Tottenham.
What is the team news?
Chelsea could be set for a wholesale amount of changes to the team that beat Leeds.
Pochettino could recall the likes of Djordje Petrovic, Ben Chilwell, Levi Colwill, Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer to the starting XI.
The manager will be without a number of stars, such as Christopher Nkunku, who is currently undergoing a rehabilitation programme.
Benoit Badiashile, Carney Chukwuemeka, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu continue to miss out.
Brentford have their own injury concerns with the likes of Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey, Kevin Schade and Bryan Mbeumo all set to miss out.
To make matters worse, Thomas Frank confirmed today that Ben Mee will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury he picked up against West Ham.
Who will be the star men?
Raheem Sterling has been much improved this season and could be Chelsea’s star man against Brentford.
The winger will fancy his chances of grabbing a goal or an assist with the Bees’ two first-choice full-backs set to miss out.
Sterling has already bagged nine goal contributions this season matching his total from last year.
For Brentford, a lot of their key men are currently injured, so it is likely they will have to rely on some magic from Ivan Toney.
The striker has been in good form since he returned from his ban.
Toney has scored four goals in his seven Premier League outings.
What have the managers said?
Pochettino has given a breakdown of the last six days at Chelsea.
He said: “Maybe yes [hard as it has been after the final]. We felt disappointed because we had faith to win, we were so close.
“After 90 minutes we were the better side. In the second-half, the team’s energy dropped and we didn’t keep the energy after 90 minutes and that’s when we lose the game.
“I repeat: Finals are not about deserve or not to deserve, it’s about to win.”
Frank admitted that he was left irritated by the performance against West Ham and will be aiming for better against Chelsea.
He said: “I think right now I’m mainly very irritated about the performance as it’s very unlike us. That’s my main focus.
“We didn’t hit a good level individually and collectively. West Ham had a good level, and Bowen was unplayable, and Emerson put one into the top corner.
“One of the things we’ve been very, very good at in all my time at Brentford is consistency in performances. There are very few games where we don’t perform to a certain level.”
SunSport prediction
Chelsea 2 Brentford 2
When is Chelsea vs Brentford?
- Chelsea’s clash with Brentford takes place on Saturday, March 2.
- The game kicks off at 3pm GMT and will be held at Stamford Bridge.
- The last time Chelsea played Brentford they lost 2-0 at home back in October.
Is Chelsea vs Brentford on TV?
- Unfortunately, Chelsea vs Brentford will not be shown on TV in the UK.
- The game kicks off at 3pm, which comes under the TV blackout rule.
- You can keep up to date with the game live on SunSport with our blog.
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Odds
- Brentford – 2/1
- Draw – 11/4
- Chelsea – 23/20
*Odds courtesy of Paddy Power and correct at time of publication.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
