Brentford

Jonty Colman
BBC Sport journalist

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While Chelsea had 21 shots to Brentford's nine in the goalless draw between the two sides, the Bees had the better chances and based off them, should have taken three points.

In the first half, Mikkel Damgaard was through on goal six yards out, but completely missed the ball when he only had Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to beat.

Keane Lewis-Potter's header from a corner also Sanchez into a good diving stop and while Chelsea's second half substitutions led to them controlling the flow of the second half, it was the Bees who had three golden chances in a five-minute flurry late on.

Bryan Mbuemo exchanged a one-two with Yoane Wissa before his effort on goal was denied by Sanchez.

From the resulting corner, Sepp van den Berg, who almost turned into his own net earlier in the half, headed over from close range before Wissa himself steered wide with a header of his own.

Between the two sides, Opta said an expected goals (xG) total of 2.54 had been generated between both teams, the third highest in a Premier League game this season which has ended 0-0.

Had either of Damsgaard, Mbuemo, Wissa, Van den Berg or Lewis-Potter taken their chances, the Bees would have ended their eight-game wait for a home victory in the league and boosted their slim hopes of qualifying for European football for the first time in their history.

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Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has been speaking to Match of the Day about the result: "I felt that we played a good game, a very good game. I think the performance was good. The first half was a very good performance, I think we were clearly on top in the first half. In that spell, we should have taken our chances. In the second half, more even. In all of the game, we defended very well."

On keeping a first clean sheet at home in the Premier League for 11 months: "That is crazy. That is a positive, I guess."

On the performance: "The performance overall was very good. We were playing against a top team with a good manager. They are well-coached, they have spent billions on players. I think the way we played and performed today, we had the better chances to win the game."

On being a consistent Premier League club: "Our culture is fantastic. I think it's good people working together, working for each other, and caring about each other. To be able to take calm, solid and good decisions is an unbelievably important thing, especially from owners and directors."

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Brentford remain without a win in eight home Premier League games (D3 L5), extending what is their longest ever such run in the competition.

The Bees have won just one of their past seven Premier League London derbies at home (D4 L3), which was a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace in August this season.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Brentford's performance

What did you make of Chelsea's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Four matches make up Sunday's Premier League action and BBC Sport will bring you every kick.

• Brentford v Chelsea - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Fulham v Liverpool - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Tottenham v Southampton

• Man Utd v Man City (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 live

All kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Chelsea's issue has been consistency - they played well to beat Tottenham on Thursday but can they back it up here? I am not sure.

Brentford are another team I have struggled to get right this season, but I'd always back them to score.

I have feeling this is going to be an open game with a few goals. A win would be big for Chelsea in their push for a top-five finish, but I don't think they will get it.

Sutton's prediction: 2-2

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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Brentford are without a win in their past four home league games against Chelsea, meaning they have not beaten the Blues on their own ground since October 1938.

Chelsea have lost each of their past four Premier League away matches. They have not lost five in a row on the road since a run of five between October and December 2000.

Brentford have gone seven Premier League games without a win at Gtech Community Stadium, which is their worst run in the league since going nine without a win between September and December 2006.

Bryan Mbeumo has been involved in six goals in his past five Premier League games against Chelsea (three goals, three assists).

Brentford boss Thomas Frank has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League home game against Chelsea (kick-off 14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• "Everyone from the Newcastle game is fine" and fit to play against Chelsea.

• Rico Henry has a "chance to feature" against Chelsea and is "very keen to be involved" as he has missed playing.

• Meanwhile, Frank confirmed Mikkel Damsgaard "will start on Sunday".

• The Dane said the club "will look at contracts in summer" for Ben Mee and Josh Dasilva, whose deals are both due to expire in June.

• On not having a home win since December, Frank said that a "perfect performance on the pitch and in the stands is what we want".

• Frank said defender Nathan Collins "has really improved this season", adding: "That's down to him and I praise him for that. He has real focus during the game."

• Brentford "have highlighted a couple of areas that we can create" chances against Chelsea.

• Frank described Blues defender Marc Cucurella is "one of the best left backs in the league".

Listen to BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra commentary of Brentford v Chelsea at 14:00 on Sunday

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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We asked for your views on Newcastle's win over Brentford on Wednesday.

Here are some of your comments:

Newcastle fans

Matt: Did Sandro Tonali really mean that strike? The late movement of his foot suggests he did - but that's my heart ruling my head, maybe! On track for Europe again and perhaps a big win against Manchester United.

Paul: Great win but we made hard work of it with either sloppy finishing or great last-ditch defending by Brentford. Alexander Isak wasn't at his best, taking time to pull the trigger but we could have easily been three goals up at half-time.

Duncan: Any signs of a hangover from the cup success were soon dispelled. A good start from the whistle, with lots of pressure on the Brentford 18-yard box. A good all-round performance marred by Nick Pope's poor decision-making again. Tonali finished it with a wonder strike to secure the points and continue the push for Champions League football next season. Did he mean it? Absolutely! He has been going for long-range efforts like that all season. Our strongest player all season.

Robbo: Difficult game and could have easily been a draw. Pleased with a win after such a historic few weeks. Good luck to the Bees for the rest of the season. Thought Kieran Trippier and Tino Livramento were brilliant. Did Tonali mean to score? Of course he did.

Brentford fans

Brahams: Very unlucky not to get a point and on another day all three! A strong performance full of passion. While Mikkel Damsgaard is a super sub to have, I just think we are missing (through injuries etc) a few game-changing players that we have in our squad. But that's not to take away anything from the performance away at a strong team who were on a high from their trophy win. I think the sky is the limit when Brentford have the full force of their squad playing week in week out.

Tom: We played well. It was a game that should get attention for another referee and VAR mistake though, as a stonewall penalty against Damsgaard, after which a free kick was given for a "foul" by Keane Lewis-Potter on Tonali and a yellow card, from which Newcastle went and Tonali scored the freak goal. This has happened time and again in recent matches for us. We're not the kind of club to moan about it and we have the classiest manager in the Premier League, but he needs to start now as it is getting ridiculous.

• Support a different club? Find and follow your team here

Highlights and analysis from nine midweek Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Arsenal 2-1 Fulham

• Nottingham Forest 1-0 Man Utd

• Liverpool 1-0 Everton

• Newcastle 2-1 Brentford

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Brentford boss Thomas Frank, speaking to Sky Sports: "Proud of the performance, happy with the players' performance and I think, besides the first moment and the last minute, I felt we kept them quiet first half.

"Ethan [Pinnock] went close to scoring and, unfortunately, [Sandro] Tonali scores from a cross. That is one-in-a-million and then in the end we had good chances. We performed well and then the fine margins didn't go our way.

"Even game, could have gone either way but unfortunately we didn't.

"The last one I don't think it was a penalty but the first one I think it was."

On Bryan Mbeumo scoring again: "First with Ivan [Toney] I said we had the best penalty taker in the world and with Bryan, if not the best, we have the second best.

"If we keep performing like this, I think we will be in a good position at the end of the season. Hopefully we get five straight home wins now."

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Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo has been directly involved in eight goals (five goals, three assists) in his six Premier League away games in 2025 - no player has more goals and assists on the road in the competition this calendar year.

Mbeumo has also scored all 10 of the penalties he's taken in the Premier League, only Yaya Toure (11/11) has a better 100% ratio in the competition's history.

Neil Johnston
BBC Sport journalist

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So, Brentford's incredible run of away wins is over.

Newcastle proved a bridge too far after Thomas Frank's side had made easy work of winning at Southampton, Crystal Palace, West Ham, Leicester and Bournemouth since the start of 2025.

The Bees certainly made the Carabao Cup winners work hard for the points on Wednesday.

Had Ethan Pinnock's header - when the score was 1-1 - hit the net instead of the post then it could have been a very different outcome.

Instead, Brentford return to London knowing they must address issues closer to home.

While they have been impressive on the road lately, Frank's side have not won at home in the Premier League since defeating Newcastle 4-2 on 7 December.

Brentford are all but certain of a fifth successive season in the top-flight.

The question is: will they secure a second top-half finish in three seasons?

Beat local rivals Chelsea at home on Sunday (14:00 BST) and this defeat at Newcastle will quickly be forgotten.

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Brentford winger Bryan Mbeumo, speaking to Premier League Productions: "It is a hard one tonight and we deserved more.

"It was good performance but at the end it was not enough. I think we knew it was going to be a tough game against a very good side and at the end it was a bit frustrating. It is hard to take.

"We knew it is important to get the points away. It is always tough to come here. It is really tight and we are going to give it our best game by game and see where it takes us."

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Newcastle's performance

What did you make of Brentford's display?

Come back to this page on Thursday to find a selection of your replies

Six matches make up Wednesday's Premier League action and BBC Sport will bring you every kick.

• Bournemouth v Ipswich

• Brighton v Aston Villa

• Man City v Leicester City

• Newcastle v Brentford - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Southampton v Crystal Palace

• Liverpool v Everton (20:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

All kick-off times 19:45 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

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We asked for your views on the one thing no-one is talking about at Brentford, but really should be.

Here are some of your comments:

Mitch: My feeling is there absolutely must be something to play for: pride, passion, keeping the name of this club on everyone's lips. But... I've watched too many end of season games where the players are 'on the beach' - Leeds a couple of seasons back, a prime example. We, the fans, are turning up to watch our best players play to their best level against whomever they're playing. If the players are not bothered, then why should we be?

Charlie: I reckon we give it our absolute all for the past nine games with nothing to lose as we're already safe and have been for a while now. So why not go for a European place? Knowing my Brentford, we've been planning for next season for a while now. We're always prepared for whatever obstacles get in our way whether it's a player potentially leaving etc. I couldn't be prouder of my club anymore with what we've done since being in the Premier League. We haven't looked out of the place since the first game against Arsenal a few years ago. I'm very confident in saying that we are the best run club from top to bottom in the country. Let's be having ya!

Tom: We're finally going to have some full-backs! Fingers crossed Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey will be back with the first team in the coming weeks. It's been more than 500 days since they last played together so it'll be a long awaited reward.

Cliff: Clubs like Brighton and Bournemouth are regularly discussed in the debate for European places but Brentford have been almost totally ignored. We have a tough month of fixtures but we're only a handful of places off a Europa League place so don't write off our season.

Philip: Our owner Matthew Benham is looking to sell a minority stake in the club. This will raise a very substantial sum without it burdening us with debt. This will allow potentially larger investment in players to take us to the next level in the coming years. An amazing position for Brentford football club to be in.

Chris: Again it's the injuries. We still have Mathias Jensen, Hickey, Josh Dasilva, Igor Thiago, Gustavo Nunes and Henry out of action. Thiago has barely played and Nunes not at all since they were bought last summer. Once we have a fully-fit squad, we can challenge anyone but those days seem increasingly rare.

Have Newcastle stopped celebrating yet? They have been on the lash for a long time after winning the Carabao Cup, culminating - for some of their fans anyway - with their trophy parade on Saturday. I am sure the players have sunk a few too.

It showed how much the club's success means to the city, but now they have to focus on the rest of the season, because getting back into the Champions League would be massive for what comes next for Eddie Howe's side, and how they are viewed across Europe.

There will be a fantastic atmosphere at this game too, but the danger with that is we know Brentford are capable of spoiling anyone's party with their attacking threat.

Howe has tried to address that by speaking about the need to finish the campaign strongly, and this is a great example of where his side cannot afford to take their eye off the ball.

I suspect they will come out of the traps very quickly against Brentford, lifted by the crowd, and go a couple of goals up before the weekend starts to take its toll on them and the fans too.

Sutton's prediction: 3-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here