Premier League | Gameweek 27

Feb 26, 2025 at 7.30pm UK

Brentford Community Stadium

Brentford vs Everton

Match preview

A resounding win over the Foxes in Friday night's Premier League clash allowed Brentford to head into the weekend with the knowledge that they are now firmly in the race for Europe.

The win lifted the Bees up to 11th place and they were initially just two points adrift of the top eight, but even though Aston Villa's win stretched the gap to five points, Thomas Frank's men still have a game in hand.

Brentford have been in scintillating form away from home, winning four in a row, but will be desperate to rediscover the comforts of home at the Gtech.

In mid-December, Brentford had the best home record in the division in terms of wins (seven), points (22) and goals (26), but in the last two months they have taken just one point from a possible 15, and even that came in dramatic circumstances with a late comeback against Manchester City.

Frank's men are also struggling under the lights, and against Everton, as they are still searching for their first Premier League win in midweek (three draws and four defeats), while they are without a win against their next opponents for five matches.

The hosts completed the league double against Everton in their first season as a Premier League club in 2021-22, but have not beaten them since, although they did earn a very positive point at Goodison Park earlier in the season, playing more than half the game with 10 men.

The result was not what Everton wanted, but it was their third clean sheet against Brentford in four games, all at Goodison, with the Toffees conceding exactly one goal on their three previous visits.

That hardly mattered last season, when Everton won 3-1 here for their first win of the 2023-24 season, and they would love a repeat of that result to get over the frustration of blowing a two-goal lead at home to Man United at the weekend.

David Moyes' side had the Red Devils on the ropes in the first half, leading 2-0, but a sluggish second half saw United level late on, before Everton were denied an injury-time penalty by a bizarre VAR decision that has been widely criticised by pundits and former referees.

Nevertheless, the point extended Everton's unbeaten run to six league games, the longest such streak in the division.

Everton have scored at least twice in each of Moyes' four home games, a feat they have not achieved in eight years, while they have also rediscovered their defensive stability, with their four lowest xG conceded goals all coming under Moyes.

Moyes has also made an impact on the road, winning both games at Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace since taking charge, and the visiting manager will be looking to break another recent negative record, with Everton failing to win any of their last 15 night-time Premier League games.

Recent Performance

Brentford Premier League form:DLWLWW

Everton Premier League form:WWWDWD

Everton form (all competitions):WWLDWD

Team News

Brentford will be without defender Sepp van den Berg for the trip to Leicester, but the timely return of Ethan Pinnock will ease the situation and the Jamaican should partner Nathan Collins once again.

Just over six weeks after returning from injury, Mathias Jensen is out again with an adductor injury that will keep him out until next month, meaning he joins Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry, Josh Dasilva and Igor Thiago on the sidelines.

Christian Norgaard scored Brentford's third goal at the King Power but was substituted at half-time, with Frank citing illness as the reason for his doubt.

Norgaard's Danish compatriot Jesper Lindstrom was also ruled out of the Everton match the following day through illness and is also a doubt, with the visitors lacking wide options due to knee injuries to Iliman Ndiaye and Dwight McNeil.

Abdoulaye Doucoure made a surprise return to the Everton XI against Man United, replacing Carlos Alcaraz who had scored and assisted in the win over Palace, but the Malian midfielder matched the new signing's performance with an excellent first-half display on Saturday.

Beto's sensational run continued with another goal at the weekend, becoming the first Everton player since Richarlison four years ago to net in four successive league games, as the Toffees continue to cope without the injured duo of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Armando Broja.

Possible starting lineup

Brentford possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Ajer, Pinnock, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Norgaard; Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Schade; Wissa

Everton possible starting lineup:

Pickford; O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Lindstrom, Gueye, Garner, Doucoure, Harrison; Beto