Premier League | Gameweek 11

Nov 9, 2024 at 3pm UK

Brentford Community Stadium

Brentford vs Bournemouth

Match preview

On Monday evening, Welsh wizard Harry Wilson produced two moments of magic. Brentford rocked up to Fulham's Craven Cottage home and initially looked set to leave with all three points, courtesy of Vitaly Janelt's thunderous strike.

Thomas Frank's team went into the second half with a one-goal lead, but Wilson managed to score twice more. First, he made an amazing goal from an improvised finish, and then he headed home Antonee Robinson's cross. This was with 97 minutes on the clock.

In the West London derby, Fulham were on cloud nine while Brentford were down in the dumps. The Bees dropped even more points from a winning position and saw their awful away record for 2024-25 extend to five losses from five Premier League games on the road. Only Southampton share that fate.

Brentford's great run of home results has Frank's side sitting pretty in mid-table, in 12th place with 13 points from a possible 15 at the Gtech Community Stadium this term. That's the joint-best record in the league with Manchester City.

What's more, no team has scored more than the 15 goals the hosts have scored at home in the current top-flight campaign. However, they have yet to keep a single Premier League clean sheet in 2024-25 and have now let an unrivalled 14 points slip from winning positions this season.

Bournemouth have also enjoyed plenty of home victories in the Premier League this season. They added Manchester City to their list of Vitality Stadium scalps in gameweek 10, just a couple of weeks on from beating Arsenal on the South Coast.

Capitalising on the champions' poor fitness, Iraola's forward-thinking troops were two goals up thanks to Antoine Semenyo's silky turn and finish and Evanilson's toe-poke on the stretch, before a great Josko Gvardiol header cut the deficit in half.

Pep Guardiola's team tried hard to get the equaliser, but when Erling Haaland missed another chance towards the end, it was clear that it was going to be Bournemouth's day. They stretched their unbeaten Premier League run to three games.

The Cherries have had an amazing autumn, which has helped them to secure 10th place in the standings. They are now two points and two spots better off than Brentford. However, their performance in seven Premier League away games has been disappointing, with only one win. This may have an impact on morale before the trip north.

Bournemouth haven't had much luck against Brentford either. They haven't beaten the Bees in a league game since the 2014-15 Championship season. Their last away league win against Saturday's hosts came all the way back in 2005.

Recent Performance

Brentford Premier League form:LDWLWL

Brentford form (all competitions):DWLWWL

Bournemouth Premier League form:LWLWDW

Team News

Brentford boss Frank is optimistic that Kristoffer Ajer will be back from his foot injury in time to face Fulham, but the defender was unavailable once again and will therefore need to be checked over before Saturday's fixture.

There's a small chance that Rico Henry could make his long-awaited comeback from a severe knee injury this weekend, but he won't be starting. Igor Thiago (knee), Josh Dasilva (knee), Aaron Hickey (thigh) and Gustavo Nunes (back) are still out.

Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo didn't make an impact at Craven Cottage, but they're both at home advantage at the Gtech Community Stadium. Wissa has scored in his last four league games there, while Mbeumo has done so in five straight top-flight home matches.

Bournemouth will be without midfielder Alex Scott, who is recovering from knee surgery. Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga (groin), defender Dango Ouattara (unspecified) and midfielder Luis Sinisterra (unspecified) are all doubtful for the game.

It'll be interesting to see if Kepa makes it back into the first XI. If he does, Mark Travers won't give up the gloves easily. After all, Iraola has no reason to change the winning formula from the beating of City.

However, midfield mainstay Ryan Christie is in a tricky spot. He picked up his fourth yellow card of the season against City and will be suspended for one match if he's cautioned again here.

Possible starting lineups

Brentford possible starting lineup:

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

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:

Travers; Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Christie, Cook; Semenyo, Kluivert, Tavernier; Evanilson