FA Cup | Third Round

Jan 11, 2025 at 3pm UK

Brentford Community Stadium

Brentford vs Plymouth

Match preview

Brentford ended a five-game winless run across all competitions when they easily beat Premier League basement club Southampton 5-0 away last weekend – their first league win on the road this season at the tenth time of asking.

Thomas Frank called this one of the "biggest moments" of his six-and-a-half-year time with the Bees, who are currently 11th in the Premier League, just six points behind the top seven.

One of Brentford's best players this season has been the influential attacker Bryan Mbeumo, who scored two goals against Southampton to bring his Premier League goal tally to 13. The Cameroon international has scored in 10 separate matches this season, with only Mohamed Salah (14) and Alexander Isak (11) scoring more.

Now, Brentford are focusing on the FA Cup and will do their best to avoid a third third-round elimination in a row. Last season, they lost 3-2 to Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 2023 replay and 1-0 at home to West Ham United.

The Bees had an unbeaten home run of 10 games in all competitions before losing their last two, and now they're heading into their third-round tie with Plymouth. They've never beaten the Pilgrims in nine previous attempts in the FA Cup (D3 L6), so they'll be keen to change that on Saturday.

Since Wayne Rooney left as head coach, Plymouth have had an unbeaten start to 2025, but they've now gone 11 games without a win in all competitions. Their last success was on 5 November when they won 1-0 at home to Portsmouth.

A 2-2 draw with Bristol City on New Year's Day, where they got a point in the 91st minute, was followed by a goalless draw at Stoke City last weekend. They're still bottom of the Championship table, but only three points off safety.

Plymouth chairman Simon Hallett hopes to be able to announce a new head coach in the "very near future" amid reported interest in former Cercle Brugge boss Miron Muslic. In the meantime, first team coach Kevin Nancekivell and club captain Joe Edwards will continue to lead the team.

Before getting ready for three Championship home games in a row, Plymouth will try to get through the third round of the FA Cup for the fourth time in the last five seasons. To do that, they'll need to beat Brentford for the first time since December 2003 (2-0 in League One).

But the Pilgrims haven't won any of their last 16 FA Cup matches against top-flight teams since a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion back in February 1984, a year in which they made it all the way to the semi-finals.

Recent Performance

Brentford form (all competitions):LLLDLW

Plymouth Argyle form (all competitions):LDLLDD

Team News

Brentford's Ethan Pinnock (hamstring), Aaron Hickey (thigh), Kristoffer Ajer (ankle), Fabio Carvalho (groin), Ben Mee (muscle), Josh Dasilva (knee), Gustavo Nunes (back) and Igor Thiago (infection) are all still unavailable for selection.

However, left-back Rico Henry is in contention to make his first appearance for the senior team since sustaining a serious knee injury in September 2023, although he is not yet ready to play 90 minutes.

Keane Lewis-Potter, who signed a new contract with the Bees until 2031 on Wednesday, has been playing at left-back recently, but he might be moved into an advanced role out wide. The likes of Hakon Valdimarsson, Kim Ji-soo, Yehor Yarmolyuk and Vitaly Janelt could all be starting the game.

Meanwhile, Plymouth's Joe Edwards, Muhamed Tijani and Mustapha Bundu are still out with injuries, and Ryan Hardie will be checked out after missing the last game with a shoulder problem.

Callum Wright is back from his three-match ban and might start the game against Rami Al Hajj.

The Pilgrims announced the loan signing of Polish international left-back Tymoteusz Puchacz on Thursday and have confirmed that their new No.17 has been registered in time to make his debut on Saturday.

Possible starting lineup

Brentford possible starting lineup:

Valdimarsson; Roerslev, Ji-soo, Van den Berg, Henry; Jensen, Janlt, Yarmolyuk; Schade, Wissa, Lewis-Potter

Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:

Hazard; Szucs, Pleguezuelo, Galloway; Sorinola, Randell, Gyabi, Puchacz; Wright, Whittaker; Obafemi