Two Premier League teams bidding to return to winning ways do battle at the Gtech Community Stadium as Brentford play host to West Ham United on Saturday afternoon.
While the Bees sit 12th in the top-flight table with seven points after five matches, the Hammers are two places and three points further back in 14th spot.
Match preview
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Brentford may have lost each of their opening three Premier League away games this season, but they were against Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, and they certainly put up a fight in all three contests, particularly the latter two which will have impressed head coach Thomas Frank.
As they did against Man City, the Bees buzzed out of the blocks against Tottenham and scored for the second successive league game inside the opening 23 seconds courtesy of Bryan Mbeumo's volley. However, they let their early lead slip once again, with Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson and James Maddison all on the scoresheet to secure a 3-1 comeback win for Spurs.
While Frank was able to take "a lot of positives" from his side's bravery and performance, the Dane has encouraged his players to "do better" in certain aspects to ensure that they carry out their required duties over the course of 90 minutes.
Brentford will welcome a return to the Gtech Community Stadium where they boast a 100% record after three matches in all competitions this term, with back-to-back Premier League wins over Crystal Palace (2-1) and Southampton (3-1) followed by an EFL Cup third-round success against third-tier side Leyton Orient (3-1).
The Bees have also won four of their last five home meetings with West Ham, including three victories as a Premier League club, while they have scored at least twice in all six of their Premier League encounters with the Hammers, the joint-most one team has faced another while scoring multiple goals each time in the division's history along with Arsenal (also six versus Reading).
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After spending just over £120m and recruiting nine new first-team players over the summer, there was plenty of optimism among West Ham supporters at the start of the season, but new head coach Julen Lopetegui has struggled to fit the correct pieces into his Hammers puzzle thus far.
Indeed, just two victories have been posted in their opening seven matches across all competitions, and they have begun the campaign with three straight home league defeats for the first time in their history, most recently losing 3-0 against London rivals Chelsea last weekend.
West Ham have since crashed out in the third round of the EFL Cup after suffering a heavy 5-1 defeat away against holders Liverpool on Wednesday, although Lopetegui - who left Anfield on crutches after pulling his calf when jumping on the touchline in frustration - has insisted that the scoreline did not reflect his side's performance.
The pressure will continue to mount on the Spanish boss if he fails to lead his Hammers team to victory in their next two Premier League games against Brentford and newly-promoted Ipswich Town before the next international break, although success against the former is not guaranteed.
West Ham lost each of their first five Premier League meetings with Brentford before hat-trick hero Jarrod Bowen inspired the Hammers to a 4-2 victory at the London Stadium in their most recent encounter in February.
Team News
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Brentford are still having to cope without Yoane Wissa (ankle), Rico Henry, Josh Dasilva, Igor Thiago (all knee), Mathias Jensen (calf), Aaron Hickey (thigh) and Gustavo Nunes (back) due to injury.
Christian Norgaard missed the defeat at Spurs last weekend with "a minor injury" and Frank stated after the match that he is "very confident" the Danish midfielder will be fit to return against the Hammers, but he has since revealed that a late call will be made on his availability.
Star forward Bryan Mbeumo is tied with ex-teammate Ivan Toney as the club's most productive player in the Premier League with 47 goal involvements (21 goals, 26 assists), and he is set to continue in attack, potentially joined by two of Fabio Carvalho, Kevin Schade or Keane Lewis-Potter.
As for West Ham, Edson Alvarez is suspended after receiving two yellow cards in the midweek loss to Liverpool, while Niclas Fullkrug remains doubtful with a calf injury and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Lopetegui is expected to recall a number of favoured first-team players including goalkeeper Alphonse Areola as well as defensive trio Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Emerson Palmieri.
In the absence of Alvarez, Guido Rodriguez and Tomas Soucek are set to link arms in centre-midfield, while Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta and Michail Antonio could all return to start with captain Jarrod Bowen in attack.
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Pinnock, Ajer; Damsgaard, Norgaard, Janelt; Mbuemo, Schade, Lewis-Potter
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson; Rodriguez, Soucek; Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus; Antonio
We say: Brentford 2-1 West Ham United
A total of 11 goals were scored across the two meetings between Brentford and West Ham last season and we could be in for another entertaining, end-to-end contest on Saturday.
It is fair to say that the Bees enter this fixture in higher spirits than the Hammers, and when you also factor in their strong start to the season on home soil, we can see Frank's men claiming maximum points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
