Brentford

Here are the key facts before Luton Town host Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.

• Luton have won just one of their past 12 Premier League games, though it was their most recent one at Kenilworth Road against Bournemouth. The Hatters are yet to record back-to-back home victories this season.

• Brentford have lost both of their away league games against the promoted sides so far, going down 1-0 at Sheffield United and 2-1 at Burnley. The Bees have not lost three away games against promoted teams in a season since the 1988-89 third-tier campaign, when they lost to Cardiff City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bolton Wanderers.

• Luton have scored a league-high 39% of their Premier League goals in the final 15 minutes of games this season (18/46), with those goals being worth seven extra points to the Hatters.

• Brentford are unbeaten in their past four Premier League games, having lost 14 of the previous 18. Thomas Frank's side are looking to win consecutive league games for the first time since November.

• Ross Barkley has scored five Premier League goals for Luton this season, only netting more in 2013-14 (six) and 2015-16 (eight). He also has four assists this term, and could register double figures for goal involvements for the third time, after also doing so in 2015-16 (16) and 2016-17 (13).

• Vitaly Janelt is the only player to have played in every league game for Brentford this season. Should he feature on Saturday, he would be the first player to make 100 Premier League appearances for the Bees.

Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live commentary of Luton v Brentford at 15:00 BST on Saturday

Ian Westbrook
Fan writer

The feeling at full-time against Sheffield United on Saturday was one of relief as much as joy.

Brentford had won at home for the first time since January and, more importantly, pushed further away from the bottom of the table.

The job is not done yet – but if we can avoid defeat at Luton Town this weekend, then we will be well-placed to reach my safety target of 35 points to ensure a fourth Premier League season.

We have found form at just the right time – and it is no surprise it coincides with the return of players like Bryan Mbeumo after injury.

We are now unbeaten in four games – our joint best run of the season - and only play one more top-half side, with Newcastle United on the final day.

It has also been good to see Mikkel Damsgaard finally get some game time.

There was excitement when we signed the Denmark international at the start of last season, but injury and lack of form have prevented him establishing himself in the side.

However, after some good cameo performances as a substitute, he has started the past two games – at Aston Villa and then on Saturday – and shown the quality he possesses, especially in his passing.

Damsgaard also came so close to his first Bees goal, against the Blades. His cross was deflected in for an own goal to open the scoring and then he was denied what looked a perfectly good goal when his low strike was ruled out by VAR for a supposed foul by Nathan Collins.

With three years left on his contract, Damsgaard could play a key role going forward.

Ian Westbrook can be found at Beesotted podcast, external

Brentford have scouted Real Betis' Juan Miranda, although Crystal Palace, West Ham and Wolves are also keen on the 24-year-old Spain left-back. (HITC), external

Want more transfer news? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your questions on all things Premier League.

Peter asked: Both Brighton and Brentford have received plaudits for the way they play, smart recruitment and outperforming their budgets over the past couples of seasons. However, Roberto de Zerbi is constantly linked with 'bigger' jobs, while Thomas Frank isn't. Why is that?

Phil answered: Good question, Peter, because Frank has done a superb job at Brentford. He has been mentioned as a potential candidate for Manchester United but I would be very surprised with that. De Zerbi has certainly been touted for more jobs and big jobs.

Maybe it is because Frank gives the impression of being completely at home at Brentford but I don't think that will stop other clubs looking at him in the future – not that the Bees or any of their supporters would welcome that.

They want Frank to stay exactly where he is, establishing Brentford even more solidly in the Premier League.

We asked for your thoughts on Brentford's 2-0 victory over Sheffield United on Saturday.

Here are some of your comments:

Brentford fans

Robert: Poor game, great result and that was the main thing for Brentford - the three points. Vitaly Janelt was the best player for me, so onwards and upwards and hopefully another three points at Luton next Saturday.

Bobby: After being outfought (for once) at Bramall Lane, a scrappy win here was welcome. Janelt excellent again, winning his duels and getting us moving. Sad to see Damsgaard’s goal chalked off, but good that he finally has a run of solid performances. Avoiding defeat at Luton next will surely make us safe. Just happy to survive this season and move on.

Kev: We’ve played much better, but created by far the better chances and deserved the win. Good to see Pinnock and Schade back.

Sheffield United fans

Stuart: Played some good stuff at times - Arblaster is top quality already and has a big future. Substitutions cost us again. McAtee looked like he was running in treacle and let his man go. Grbic - anything on target is a goal.

Shad: Bad substitution on 56 minutes. Wilder takes possibly our best player off, the one who kept all things down that side at bay. He puts Osborne there and we look wide open. Mr Wilder needs to look at himself as all the time this season he's been in charge, most of his decisions have cost us dearly.

Bob: Same old, same old. Not good enough! We need a change in management!

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's six Premier League fixtures.

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

Listen back to Saturday's BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra match commentary in full:

Manchester City v Luton Town

Bournemouth v Manchester United

Sam Drury
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

It is almost three months since Brentford have been able to celebrate a Premier League win at the Gtech.

After so long, ending that run was never likely to be pretty - and this most certainly was not.

This was about as scrappy as it comes with a fortuitous own goal needed to break the deadlock and the two moments of quality - Kevin Schade's flick-on and Frank Onyeka's finish - for the second totally out of keeping with the rest of the game.

But as Thomas Frank and his players walked around the pitch applauding the supporters at full-time, that mattered not a jot.

Three precious points have been secured and, while the job is not done quite yet, the Bees can continue plans for a fourth season in the top flight with significantly more confidence.

Getting Ivan Toney back for the final few games as they aim to collect the final few points needed to secure to survival would also help.

The England striker was an unused substitute against Sheffield United as he continues to manage a muscle injury.

Thomas Frank spoke to Match of the Day after Brentford's victory over Sheffield United: "It feels so good. Nine games we've been without a win and I've just been saying to the lads 'please don't do that to me or yourself again'.

"Everyone was talking about finals. I didn't do that about this game. It was not a final but this is so important. Today was not through the roof but I think it was a good performance.

"This has definitely been the most challenging season. Injuries, actually performing quite good, Ivan's been banned...all of that. It's been tough but it just reminds you why it is the best league in the world. It's so difficult."

• Brentford have ended their six-match winless streak (D2 L4) against Sheffield United with this afternoon’s victory, their first against the Blades since a 3-1 win in August 2013 in League One.

• Sheffield United have conceded 84 goals in the Premier League this season, the most any team has conceded after 32 games played and the most of any top-flight team at this stage of a season since Ipswich Town in 1963-64 (85).

• Brentford have kept back-to-back clean sheets at the Gtech Community Stadium in the Premier League for the first time this season and for the first time May 2023. Prior to this run, the Bees had conceded 22 goals across 10 home matches – an average of 2.2 goals conceded per game.

• Sheffield United have now failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their past 17 away Premier League matches, only once going on a longer run without an away clean sheet – a run of 22 between June 2020 and May 2021.

• Despite going in at half-time level for the 16th time in the Premier League this season (the fifth most in the division), today’s victory was only Brentford’s fourth after being level at the break this season. Prior to today’s match, the Bees were winless in their five previous such matches (D2 L3).

Brentford beat Sheffield United to claim their first win in 10 Premier League games and ease their relegation fears.

An unfortunate own goal from Blades youngster Oliver Arblaster just past the hour mark put Thomas Frank's side ahead, as he inadvertently sent Mikkel Damsgaard's cross into the far corner.

Substitute Frank Onyeka sealed the win in stoppage time as the Bees move up to 14th, seven points clear of the bottom three.

Meanwhile, Sheffield United remain bottom and take another step towards an immediate return to the Championship.

Chris Wilder's side are 10 points from safety with six games to play.

The visitors started brightly with Ben Brereton Diaz breaking free down the left but he scuffed the shot with just Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken to beat.

Brentford soon took charge but despite dominating possession, they struggled to create many chances with Neal Maupay stabbing wide their best opportunity of the first half after United defender Anel Ahmedhodzic gave the ball away inside his own half.

It was a similar story after the break with Mathias Jorgensen seeing a goal ruled out for offside minutes before Brentford's fortuitous opener.

Damsgaard thought he had doubled the lead soon after but the VAR intervened to rule out his crisp volley from Bryan Mbeumno's free-kick for a foul on Oli McBurnie in the build-up.

The Blades pushed for an equaliser but Cameron Archer's wayward shot from a tight angle was as close as they came before Onyeka latched on to the fit-again Kevin Schade's flick-on to fire in the clincher for Brentford.

Were you at the match or did you follow it from elsewhere?

Brentford fans - let us know your thoughts on the game here

How did you rate the side's performance, Blades fans?

Follow all of the reaction here

Six matches make up Saturday's Premier League action, and we will bring you every moment.

BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries:

• Man City v Luton

• Bournemouth v Man Utd

All times BST

Follow BBC Radio 5 Live commentaries and live text updates here

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's games, he takes on actor and Leyton Orient fan Daniel Mays.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Sheffield United are battling on and are still picking up points, but then I would never expect a Chris Wilder team to just chuck the towel in even if they have got little hope of staying up.

The point they picked up at Chelsea last weekend was the Blades' third draw in four games, but their situation at the bottom of the table means they really need to be winning games to have a chance of survival.

If you look at recent results then Brentford, who have drawn their past three matches, are in similar form but the difference with the Bees is that they are above the relegation zone and appear to be edging towards safety, one game at a time.

Thomas Frank's side are not out of danger yet but a win here would be massive. They should have more quality than Sheffield United in the final third, and I think that will make the difference.

Daniel's prediction: 1-0

Ivan Toney has not really got going for Brentford since he's been back from suspension, but I am still going with a home win.

See the full list of predictions here

Thomas Frank has been speaking to the media before Brentford host Sheffield United in the Premier League on Saturday.

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Frank confirmed centre-back Ethan Pinnock, who has been out since February, and forward Kevin Schade, who has not played at first-team level since since September, will both be in the squad to face the Blades.

• He also confirmed that striker Ivan Toney is "fine" after only starting on the bench in their 3-3 draw with Aston Villa and he "definitely" has a chance to start at the weekend.

• On the points deductions given to Everton and Nottingham Forest - who they are battling with to avoid relegation - Frank said: "There are much more clever people than me out there who know much more about that. The only thing I have said the whole time is if we have these FFP (Financial Fair Play) rules, it is important we are following them and if you're not following them there will be a sanction."

• He added: "I'm not speaking about Everton, I'm not speaking about any club, I just speak about us, that is all I will say."

• Frank said their weekend opponents "look much more like a Chris Wilder Sheffield United team when they got promoted under him" and in the past few games "they have been very much in form, with great performances and very good results as well".

• He added: "They have more fight and they are more difficult to beat. They are doing everything I would expect from a Chris Wilder team."

• He expects a "difficult game" but added: "It needs to be about us and it needs to be us that plays with tempo and intensity. It needs to be on us to perform. It needs to be us that goes out there and does the job."

• On how his side will approach the game: "We need to come out flying and we do that together with the fans - they were very good against Manchester United and Brighton - they need to be bang on it again."

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder says Brentford's Ivan Toney is an example of why young players "need time and patience".

Toney played under Wilder at Northampton at the start of his career and the pair are set to meet again on Saturday when the Blades face the Bees.

"You could see what he had in his locker, which took quite a while to put all together, which sometimes happens as a young player," said Wilder in his pre-match news conference.

The 28-year-old striker, who made his first-team debut for Northampton aged 16, moved to Newcastle in 2015. After a number of loan spells with different clubs, he joined Peterborough in 2018.

"Newcastle didn't get him going. This is what you deal in with young players," added Wilder. "Look at our two young players, [Daniel] Jebbison and [Will] Osula and the characteristics they've got.

"Number nines, modern-day centre-forwards. Strong, powerful and athletic. Obviously Ivan had all those tools and I'm not saying our boys will go on to have the career Ivan's had.

"But it's been a while coming and he'll possibly be the first to admit that [with] loans here, there and everywhere. Obviously he found a good home at Peterborough and developed off the back of that. He then got his move [to Brentford] and the numbers you are talking about and getting in the England squad.

"With young players you need time and patience because they're going to make mistakes and I'm sure Ivan did as a young player. But if somebody believes in them, which we do in our young players, then hopefully they come through.

"We're all looking for it to be now of course, the next six and 12 months, but he's a great example to our players and everyone at the club that this might take a bit of time with the young ones."

Brentford expect Ivan Toney to leave the club in the summer, but the Bees will demand £50m, with Manchester United among several Premier League clubs tracking the striker. (HITC), external

Want more transfer news? Read Friday's full gossip column

Here are the key facts and figures before Saturday's game between Brentford and Sheffield United in the Premier League.

• Brentford are winless in their last six league games against Sheffield United (D2 L4) since a 3-1 home win in August 2013. They have lost each of their last three against the Blades.

• Sheffield United have not kept a clean sheet away from home in the Premier League since May 2021, in a 1-0 win over Everton. They have conceded in each of their last 16 away games in the top-flight, at an average of 2.3 goals per outing (36 conceded in total).

• Brentford are winless in their last nine games in the Premier League (D4 L5), with their last victory coming against Wolves in February (2-0). Should they not win here, it will be the first time since September 2017 in the Championship that they have gone 10 consecutive league matches without a win (a run of 10 under Dean Smith).

• Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has won all three of his previous league meetings with Brentford’s Thomas Frank (twice in the 2018-19 Championship and 1-0 in this season’s reverse fixture). During his time in English football, the only opposition managers Frank has lost his first four meetings with are Brendan Rodgers and Graham Potter.

• Ivan Toney has not scored in any of his last seven Premier League starts for Brentford, despite attempting 21 shots and having 36 touches in the opposition box across those games. This is his longest run of starts without scoring in the competition.

• Oliver McBurnie has scored six goals for Sheffield United in the Premier League this season and has never managed more in a single campaign in the competition (also six in 2019-20). However, all of his league goals this term have been scored at Bramall Lane. The Scot has not found the net in any of his last 30 away games in the top-flight.

Brentford fans will benefit from a fresh viewing experience as part of a Premier League first.

The club has partnered with Genius Sports to provide "data-driven highlights for fans in venue and across social media".

Those at the Gtech Community Stadium will be able to watch in-game replays with augmented highlights including shot speeds, shot trails, player names and pitch maps.

Steve Watts, marketing services director at Brentford, commented: “Everything we do at Brentford is through a fan-first perspective. Whilst we rate highly for matchday experience, we are always looking at ways we can improve and add something a little different when attending a game at the Gtech.

"As a club that owes much to a data-driven approach, we wanted to meet the appetite of fans who are also extremely interested in this aspect of the game. We think the additional analysis will be enjoyed by the majority of fans whether attending in person or post-match on socials.”

Ian Westbrook
Fan writer

The next two weekends are likely to play a huge part in deciding Brentford’s Premier League fate this season.

The mid-April fixtures against teams around us in the table had always looked like being crucial, and so it has proved.

The key now seems to be maintaining a big enough cushion over third-bottom Luton Town.

This Saturday, we host Sheffield United, while the Hatters go to Manchester City, before facing us at Kenilworth Road the following weekend.

If this Saturday's results go in our favour – with a Bees win and a Luton loss – we will travel to Bedfordshire seven points ahead of them, knowing that avoiding defeat there will be the key.

However, nothing is certain and if we lose to Sheffield United for the second time this season and the Hatters pull off any kind of shock at the Etihad, then if Luton beat us, they could draw level with, or even overtake, us.

With Everton away at the end of the month, it is a nervy time to be a Brentford fan – but it is also heartening that we have picked up three draws with three sides in the top half of the table in eight days.

Saturday's game really was a thriller at the Villa.

Even though we once again lost points from a winning position, the point was a good one and can be regarded as a bonus, as we travelled to the West Midlands expecting little from the match.

And with our destiny still in our own hands, we have to remain optimistic that we will get over the line.

Ian Westbrook can be found at Beesotted podcast, external

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton and The New York Times' chief soccer correspondent Rory Smith have been talking about how a few clubs could be dragged into a relegation battle in the final stages of the season.

Rory believes that both Brentford and Crystal Palace "will still be looking very nervously over their shoulders".

Brentford sit in 15th and haven't won in their last nine games - but have had three consecutive draws against Aston Villa, Brighton and Manchester United. While 14th placed Crystal Palace are winless in their last five.

Sutton feels "Brentford will be fine" but Palace have a "tricky run-in".

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