Brentford

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Brentford defender Mads Roerslev has joined Bundesliga side Wolfsburg on loan until the end of the season.

The Denmark international signed initially for the Bees' B team from Copenhagen in August 2019 but broke into Thomas Frank's first team and was part of the side that beat Swansea City 2-0 in the 2020-21 Championship play-off final, producing the assist for the second goal from Emiliano Marcondes.

The 25-year-old has made 146 appearances for the club - including 94 in the Premier League - scoring two goals.

Brentford director of football Phil Giles confirmed Wolfsburg will have the option to make the move permanent in the summer.

"Mads has done an absolutely fantastic job for us since he joined our B team," he said.

"He is the perfect example of why we set up the B team in 2016. We wanted to bring in talented young players who needed some development and a pathway to first-team football.

"When he's had his chance, he has always made a positive impact on the team and contributed with some important goals and assists.

"Mads now has the chance to become a first-choice right-back at a very good club and hopefully cement his position in the Denmark national team."

Brentford are considering a move for former Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen, 28, but the Dane wants to fight for his place at Barcelona. (Independent, external)

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Since his first in December, 2021, Bryan Mbeumo has scored 10 penalties in all competitions in English football, missing none.

When it comes to just Premier League spot-kicks, only Cole Palmer, Raul Jimenez and Yaya Toure have taken more than the 25-year-old's nine without failing to score.

Brentford's last penalty-taking talisman was Ivan Toney who scored 11 from 12 yards in the English top flight, but even he missed his penultimate effort for the Bees.

With Mbeumo reprieved by VAR on Sunday, he took his second chance with a jumping run-up just before he hit the ball, waiting for goalkeeper Dean Henderson to dive the wrong way.

"Never doubt Bryan," said team-mate Nathan Collins. "We are all so confident in him and he's confident in himself. To do that on your second one, it's unreal."

Asked about Yoane Wissa's early celebration, Mbeumo said it was down to their pair's friendship "on and off the pitch".

"If one of us scores, then we are really happy for the other," Mbeumo told Sky Sports.

He added his winning penalty-taking formula was down to "just focusing myself".

"It's all mental at this point," he added. "I know I work a lot and I just needed to do the business."

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We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Crystal Palace and Brentford.

Here are some of your comments:

Palace fans

Ricardo: Both sides were poor, but everyone knows how Brentford play - we just couldn't put enough pressure on their back line. Very bad day at the office.

Paddy: We looked second-rate against Brentford. There's no urgency, we were on the back foot for most of the game and it was amateurish of us to encroach into the box! They know everything is being filmed and VAR will love to jump in and spoil the game. We need to beat teams like Brentford at home. Come on Palace!

Moggy: We've been punished for not making the most of our chances in the first half. Too complacent and didn't deserve to win, but would have been happy with a point. Happy for Esse scoring on his debut. Eze needs to get a grip as we all know how good he is.

Steve: The match was like the weather - depressing and miserable. Palace were poor, lacking so much quality in midfield, often failing to hold onto the ball in tight situations. Desperately need a fit Wharton back in the team to bring some degree of control. So disappointing to lose to a Brentford team that is average at best. Important the team bounces back against Man Utd, and defeat doesn't turn into a losing run.

Brentford fans

Gilham: Really solid, confident display. Obviously fortunate with the penalty retake but we now look so confident at this level. Our attacking potential is so good - Mbeumo the starboy, Wissa the best finisher at the club, Schade can be anything he wants, and Damsgaard's levels are through the roof compared to his first two seasons. With Collins now cutting out mistakes, Koyade coming in and Rico returning (albeit a slight setback for now) we even look more solid at the back. All without our record signing of Thiago up front.

Chris: Excellent performance for the entire starting XI. Rode our luck at times but resolute in defence, particularly in the second half.

Jason: Fantastic performance from the Bees. My mate Jim has been to two away games and we've won both times. He has to come next time!

Billy: Solid. Collins and Van den Berg are proving to be an excellent pairing in defence. Schade is starting to find some consistency, and confidence. Very happy.

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Former Premier League midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger is impressed with how Brentford have adapted to losing Ivan Toney this season.

Speaking to Match of the Day 2, he said: "Credit to Thomas Frank. Once Ivan Toney left, many people thought that it's going to be tricky to replace him. Now we see [Yoanne] Wissa and [Bryan] Mbeumo doing really well and scoring the goals.

"[Mikkel] Damsgaard in behind them is the link up player, he knits it all together. In midfield [Christian] Norgaard is the same, he covers a lot of ground.

"That's the mentality of the entire club; the work ethic. They don't talk so much and when they do speak it's in a quiet tone, but the work rate is impressive."

Strasbourg will make another move for Brentford's 22-year-old Portuguese forward Fabio Carvalho, having had an initial offer to take him on loan rejected by the Bees. (Footmercato - in French), external

Brentford right-back Mads Roerslev, 25, will fly to Wolfsburg on Monday to complete a medical after the two clubs reached an agreement on a six-month loan deal for the Denmark defender, with an option to buy. (Sky Sports Germany), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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Highlights and analysis from Sunday's four Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to the weekend's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Wolves 0-1 Arsenal

• Man City 2-1 Chelsea

• Tottenham 1-2 Leicester

• Crystal Palace 1-2 Brentford

• Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham

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Brentford boss Thomas Frank, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "Tough game against a very good Palace team. I knew it would be very difficult. The second half started that way, very difficult circumstances to play in. I think we edged it. In the end, Palace were on top in important moments. We defended very well. A solid, solid, good away performance."

On Mbeumo's penalty retake: "I would want him to take it again. He's our best penalty taker. It's all about trusting your process and he did.

"We tried to create the best meal that we got out of the freezer and it was actually still quite tasty and we got the three points."

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Brentford have won their last two away Premier League matches, as many as they had in their previous 17 combined (W2 D3 L12).

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Crystal Palace's performance

What did you make of Brentford'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.

• Tottenham v Leicester - 14:00

• Crystal Palace v Brentford - 14:00

• Aston Villa v West Ham - 16:30

• Fulham v Man Utd - 19:00

All kick-off times GMT

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Crystal Palace are on a bit of a roll after three wins and two draws in their past five league games.

Form-wise they are on a better run than Brentford, but I was impressed by Thomas Frank's side when I watched them against Liverpool last week - even though they lost.

I am a big fan of Bees striker Bryan Mbeumo, who looked really dangerous in that game. I feel like they will score again here, but I don't think they will win this week either.

Palace were unlucky to lose at Brentford on the opening weekend of the season after Eberechi Eze scored with a free-kick but it was ruled out because the referee had already blown his whistle.

This time, the Eagles are definitely getting something from the game, and this has got a draw written all over it.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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Earlier, we asked you to name the former Brentford manager from a series of clues.

The answer was Uwe Rosler, who was in charge between 2011 and 2013.

Tasnim Chowdhury
BBC Sport journalist

Brentford boss Thomas Frank has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game at Crystal Palace (kick-off 14:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Defender Kristoffer Ajer is available: "[He] trained the whole week and will be involved with the squad on Sunday, so it's very positive."

• On transfer news, Frank insisted Yoanne Wissa is "not for sale", after an approach from Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest, adding: "He's been our leading number nine. He's been fantastic. I cannot see why we should sell him."

• On new signing Michael Kayode: "Really like him. Very happy that we managed to sign him to give us more depth in the full-back positions. He's very talented - a fantastic physical package. Good abilities to keep going forward. Very good defensively. Of course, he's young and needs to be developed. He hasn't played much this season, but last season he more or less played a full season at Fiorentina. A very good signing, I think. He will not be able to get that [international clearance] before Sunday."

• Frank is "very happy" Mikkel Damsgaard has signed a new contract. "He's been very good for us - one of our best players. He adds something to the game that is very difficult to train."

• On confidence after a draw with Manchester City and a late defeat by Liverpool: "It was two very good games. The Manchester City game got the most praise. It was more even but the more I look back at our game against Liverpool, in some ways that was equally as good. I thought we defended brilliantly and I think we had dangerous attacks. The right pass could have made it a big chance and goal. Now we just need to do it again."

• On not having won away at Palace: "I didn't know that - it's about time then. I think before the opening day, we hadn't beaten Palace - I think it was five draws and one lost in the first six games in the Premier League."

• More on Sunday's opponents: "It's a very good team. I think they're back to the level that they had in the back end of last year - they had that long run of very good games, good level. Glasner is doing a very good job. You know exactly what to expect from them when you face them. That doesn't make it easy. It's really difficult - difficult to break down. We need to play our A game, no doubt about that."

Listen to Crystal Palace v Brentford from 14:00 GMT on Sunday live on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

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

Name this former Brentford manager from the following clues:

• I played in the Premier League for Manchester City during the 1990s.

• The Bees were the first English club I managed when I joined in 2011.

• I later had spells in charge of Wigan, Leeds and Fleetwood.

Answer will be revealed at 17:00 GMT

This Premier League pursuit becomes a lot easier if you take your chances.

BBC Sport has checked in on some data comparing goals versus expected goals this season.

You can see from the bar graph some teams aren't finding the goals (yellow) to outstrip the expected goals they should score (black).

Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, Brentford, Newcastle, Brighton, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Leicester have all scored more than expected.

Wolves in particular have found the net 32 times from an expected 23.56 - a significant overperformance.

League leaders Liverpool are pretty much bang on in returning what they should, while Arsenal have outperformed, with 43 goals from an expected 37.78.

Bournemouth - 36 goals from an expected 43 - are leaving opportunities on the table.

Every so often, a player is described by a pundit as someone who "loves to defend".

Most fans would naturally welcome such a sort in their team, that player who stands tall, lets stuff bounce off him and somehow masters the ability to become a magnet to the ball when it enters the penalty area.

BBC Sport took a look at three metrics this season - headed clearances, blocks and tackles - to see which players seem to relish this kind of thing.

Everton's James Tarkowski leads the way, amassing a total of 131 across the three areas, with Brentford's Nathan Collins second. The two men have made 73 headed clearances each, a stat that proves their value when it comes to defending dead balls.

Murillo - fresh from his contract extension at Nottingham Forest - was highlighted in recent weeks for a no-nonsense display against Liverpool, when he frequently launched clearances into the night. He makes the top three across these metrics and while Brazilian players are so often lauded for their flair, he can proudly carry the 'loves-to-defend' tag.

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Motherwell have signed goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe on loan from Brentford until the end of the season.

The 25-year-old spent the first half of the campaign on loan at fellow Scottish Premiership side St Mirren where he made 26 appearances.

"I'm delighted to make the move to Motherwell," Balcombe said.

"One thing I noticed when I was playing for St Mirren was the competitiveness of the league and the atmosphere at most stadiums. This is a great opportunity for me to come back and do it again."

Manager Stuart Kettlewell added: "I'm really pleased to welcome Ellery to the club.

"We've not had our issues to seek with regards to injuries within the goalkeeping department. Ellery has played plenty of football this season in this league, so he won't need a settling-in period."