Premier League | Gameweek 31

Apr 6, 2025 at 2pm UK

Brentford Community Stadium

Brentford vs Chelsea

Match preview

Brentford's five-match unbeaten run on the road came to an end when they were beaten by Newcastle United at St James' Park on Wednesday, as the Bees suffered their first away Premier League defeat in 2025.

Bryan Mbeumo cancelled out Alexander Isak's first-half opener with a 66th-minute penalty, only for Sandro Tonali to score the winner less than 10 minutes later to condemn Brentford to a fourth successive away defeat to the Magpies.

While more European places could be up for grabs, Brentford will be aware that they will need a remarkable run of results over their final eight games to keep themselves in contention, with the Bees currently sitting in 11th place and three points off the top half of the table.

After making the long trip to the North East in midweek, Thomas Frank's men return to the familiar surroundings of the Gtech Community Stadium, where they have failed to win in their last seven Premier League home games since beating Newcastle 4-2 in December.

The Bees are also the only side yet to keep a clean sheet at home in the Premier League this season, having not kept a top-flight clean sheet since a goalless draw with Fulham in May 2024.

Brentford will be determined to put their defensive shortcomings behind them as they look to end their 87-year wait for a competitive home win against Chelsea.

Chelsea will go into Sunday's clash on a high after returning from the international break with a narrow 1-0 win over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Thursday.

Enzo Fernandez's first home Premier League goal since December proved to be the difference as Chelsea's Moises Caicedo and Tottenham's Pape Matar Sarr both had efforts waved off following VAR reviews.

A fourth successive win ensured the Blues finished the midweek round in fourth place and, with a top-five finish likely to be enough to secure Champions League qualification, Marseka's side will be more concerned with the two-point gap to sixth-placed Newcastle United than the one-point advantage over fifth-placed Manchester City.

While they recorded a fifth successive league win at home on Thursday, Chelsea have been unable to replicate that form away from home, taking just two points from their last seven top-flight outings since beating Spurs 4-3 at Tottenham Hotspur in December.

In fact, the Blues have lost each of their last four Premier League games, meaning they could be in danger of losing five consecutive top-flight away games for the first time since 2000.

Despite their recent struggles away from Stamford Bridge, Chelsea will fancy their chances of getting a positive result on Sunday, having avoided defeat in each of their last seven away games against Brentford, although they have been held to draws on their last two visits to the Gtech Community Stadium.

Recent Performance

Brentford Premier League form:WWDLWL

Chelsea Premier League form:LLWWLW

Chelsea form (all competitions):WWWWLW

Team News

Brentford will be without Fabio Carvalho for the rest of the season after he recently underwent shoulder surgery.

Josh Dasilva and Igor Thiago remain sidelined with knee injuries, while Aaron Hickey and Gustavo Nunes are not yet ready to return to first-team action despite playing 45 minutes for Brentford's B team against Fleetwood Town at the end of March.

Frank revealed that Rico Henry is in contention to return to the matchday squad after making good progress in his recovery from a hamstring problem.

Midfielder Mathias Jensen is expected to come off the bench after recovering from an illness that kept him out of the last two games.

As for Chelsea, Maresca has confirmed that defender Wesley Fofana and midfielder Romeo Lavia have both suffered fresh injury blows.

The pair have picked up muscular injuries, with the Chelsea boss suggesting that Lavia is likely to return to action ahead of Fofana.

Omari Kellyman is out for the rest of the season with a hamstring problem, while Mykhaylo Mudryk is serving a provisional ban after testing positive for a banned substance in December.

Reece James should come into the side after being a late substitute in the win over Tottenham, while Noni Madueke could also start after returning from injury on Thursday.

Possible starting lineup

Brentford possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Van den Berg, Collins, Pinnock, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Schade; Wissa

Chelsea possible starting lineup:

Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson