Premier League: Brentford and Fulham Continue to Defy Expectations

Brentford vs Fulham

The English top-flight’s surprise packages this season are Fulham and Brentford, both of whom have a chance to play in Europe the following year.

Fulham are within striking distance of the European places in the Premier League table, sitting in seventh place with 39 points, which is only two away from fifth-placed Newcastle United.

On the other hand, Brentford are also having a remarkable season, currently in ninth place with 35 points and two games in hand.

Both teams are in great recent form, as they haven’t lost in any of their last four Premier League games, but only one of them can extend their unbeaten streak when they clash at the Gtech Community Stadium on Monday.

Read below as SBOTOP previews this contest.

Talking Points

Brentford lacking options up front without Toney

Ivan Toney is one of the main reasons why Brentford are dreaming of Europe, as he’s their only double-digit scorer with 15 goals and four assists so far this year.

But according to the Premier League 2023 news, the 26-year-old striker recently pleaded guilty to breaking FA gambling rules, and he’s likely to face a lengthy suspension, which hurts the Bees’ European hopes.

Toney was charged with 232 breaches of the FA’s gambling laws between 2017 and 2021 last November, and 30 more were added that took place between 2017 and 2019 the following month.

Because of this, Brentford are gearing up for Toney’s absence, and they’re reportedly aiming to sell him this summer, when he will have two years left on his current contract.

In the meantime, Brentford will look to Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa to provide the goals. Both of them have accounted for nine goals and five assists, so those numbers have to go up.

Brentford are never a one-man team, so they need all hands on deck, especially against Fulham. In other team news, they could be boosted by the returns of midfielder Frank Onyeka and goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha, while skipper Pontus Jansson may join them on the bench.

Fulham to lose influential Palhinha

Fulham have been dealt a major blow by the absence of marquee summer signing Joao Palhinha, as he will serve his two-match ban starting on Monday due to an accumulation of yellow cards (10).

Palhinha has been the Cottagers’ most influential figure in midfield, as he’s great at setting the tempo with his ability to disrupt the rhythm of opponents and carry the ball.

The Portuguese has made the most tackles in the Premier League this season, with 101 as of this writing, which is at least 11 more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues.

It doesn’t help either for Fulham that Layvin Kurzawa, Neeskens Kebano, and Tom Cairney are also out, but star striker Aleksander Mitrovic should be good to go after he started in their 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round win over Leeds United last Tuesday.

History

Fulham defeated Brentford in the 2020 Championship play-off final with a score of 2-1, but Brentford got their revenge when they eliminated Fulham in the EFL Cup Round of 16 with a 3-0 clean sheet two months later.

It took two years for these two sides to meet again, this time in the Premier League, when the Cottagers beat the Bees in a five-goal thriller that featured five different goal scorers (Bobby Reid, Joao Palhinha, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Christian Norgaard, and Ivan Toney) at Craven Cottage.

The Cottagers have only gotten a Premier League double against three different clubs (Charlton in 2002-03, Tottenham in 2003-04, and QPR in 2011-12), and the Bees can be the fourth on Monday. 

The Bees have won four of their last five home league games against the Cottagers (L1). Their last league meeting at the Gtech Community Stadium was in December 2019, when Brentford beat Fulham with a 1-0 tally.

Betting Tip

The Premier League 2023 odds favour the hosts for this matchup, as Brentford are installed at 2.05 to win, whereas Fulham are priced at 3.15, and a draw is at 3.45 in the 1X2 market.

Both sides look evenly matched on paper, so this is quite a tough call to determine who the winners are. So, instead, we’ll focus on the possible goal count for this match.

This Monday’s draw won’t be short on goals, as shown in their most recent encounters, so we’re going for Over 2.50 at 1.93. You may also consider picking Total Goal 4-6 at 3.50 if you’re swinging for the fences since it offers a good payout.

 

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