A mouth-watering fixture awaits in the Championship on Wednesday as Brentford host Bournemouth, with both teams currently on the same number of points in the promotion race.
Only goal difference separates the two clubs heading into the final set of fixtures of 2020, with the Bees in fourth and the Cherries in third.
Match preview
© Reuters
It has been a resurgent climb up the table for Brentford following an inconsistent start to the campaign that began just a month after their playoff final defeat to Fulham.
The Bees have not lost since October, with their unbeaten run currently standing at 14 games in the league – the longest of any team in England's top four divisions. In addition, they have reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, beating four Premier League clubs along the way.
Thomas Frank's side had to come from behind to beat Cardiff City 3-2 on Boxing Day, as Sergi Canos scored a sensational hat-trick – the first of his career – in South Wales.
Canos has really found form in the last month, contributing to one of the most potent attacks in the league alongside Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbuemo.
Brentford have suffered just one defeat at home this season, and that came at the start of October, but have only won two of their last seven matches at the Brentford Community Stadium.
© Reuters
Bournemouth are one of just two teams, along with Blackburn Rovers, to have scored more goals than Brentford this season, with the Cherries' tally standing at 35 compared to the Bees' 34.
Jason Tindall's side have not conceded in their last five matches, making Wednesday's game an incredibly intriguing battle indeed.
Bournemouth's Boxing Day fixture with Millwall was postponed due to COVID cases in the Lions' squad, meaning the Cherries now have a game in hand over their promotion rivals.
The South Coast side have lost the fewest games in the Championship (two), but have only won three of their 10 away games so far and drew 0-0 with Luton Town in their last match on the road.
This will be the first meeting between Brentford and Bournemouth for over five years, while the Cherries did not win on their last seven visits to Griffin Park. They will be hoping the Brentford Community Stadium brings them more joy.
Brentford Championship form: DDWDWW
Bournemouth Championship form: LWDWWD
Team News
© Reuters
Josh Dasilva is expected to come back into Brentford's starting lineup in place of Emiliano Marcondes after being rested for the trip to Cardiff.
That is likely to be the only change that Thomas Frank makes, with Sergi Canos's hat-trick ensuring he starts a fourth successive league game for the first time since the start of October.
Bournemouth's extended rest has allowed Chris Mepham and Arnaut Danjuma to come back into contention following recent injuries.
Mepham's return might mean that Jason Tindall switches to a three-man defence, with Junior Stanislas taking up a wing-back role.
Josh King is expected to leave the club in the January transfer window and is unlikely to feature in the capital as he appears to have played his last game for the Cherries.
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Raya; Dalsgaard, Jansson, Pinnock, Henry; Dasilva, Janelt, Jensen; Mbuemo, Toney, Canos
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Begovic; S. Cook, Mepham, Kelly; Smith, L. Cook, Lerma, Stanislas; Danjuma, Solanke, Brooks
We say: Brentford 1-1 Bournemouth
This is a really tough one to call as Brentford are in excellent form, but Bournemouth should be better prepared after not playing on Boxing Day. Whatever happens it is sure to be a thrilling watch with plenty of quality on show and we think both sides will take a point.
Top betting tip
Olly Allen
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brentford win with a probability of 43.28%. A win for Bournemouth had a probability of 29.66% and a draw had a probability of 27.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brentford win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.88%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.71%) and 2-0 (8.09%). The likeliest Bournemouth win was 0-1 (9.4%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.8%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Brentford would win this match.
