Brentford conclude their pre-season preparations with a friendly at home against Wolfsburg at the Gtech Community Stadium on Friday evening.
This warm-up fixture represents the fifth of pre-season for the Bees, while their Bundesliga counterparts are gearing up for their sixth friendly of the summer ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
Match preview
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Since beating AFC Wimbledon 5-2 in their opening pre-season fixture, Brentford have failed to come out on top in any of their last three friendlies, with a 3-1 defeat to Estrela Amadora sandwiched between 1-1 draws with both Benfica and Watford, sharing the spoils with the latter last weekend.
Kevin Schade scored his second goal of the summer to put the Bees in front against Watford after just six minutes, but their lead was short-lived as Moussa Sissoko equalised with a deflected finish just two minutes later.
Although Brentford were unable to come away victorious against their second-tier counterparts, head coach Thomas Frank has taken "positive vibes" from the performance of his players and was particularly impressed with his side's goal-creating actions and control in possession against Watford.
Brentford, who finished 16th in the Premier League table last season, will be keen to enter their fourth straight season in the top flight on a high, with their final warm-up match against Wolfsburg on Friday to be followed by their opening league match of the new campaign at home to Crystal Palace on August 17.
Wolfsburg have similarly experienced a mixed pre-season in terms of results so far this summer having won two, drawn one and lost two of their first five friendly fixtures.
Since securing a slender 1-0 win over Lille towards the end of July, the German club have lost 3-2 against Hannover and played out a goalless draw with Serie A outfit Como, sharing the spoils with the latter last Saturday.
Managed by former Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, Wolfsburg are one of only two previous Bundesliga champions along with Bayern Munich who have never been relegated, but they have had to settle for mid-table mediocrity in recent years, finishing 12th twice - including last season - across the last three campaigns.
Hasenhuttl will be targeting improvements this term and a return to winning ways against Brentford on Friday, before his Wolfsburg side turn their attention to their first competitive match of the 2024-25 season against lower-league outfit TuS Koblez in the DFB-Pokal first round on August 19.
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Team News
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Brentford boss Frank has revealed that he is "very confident" that Mads Roerslev, Ethan Pinnock and Vitaly Janelt - who have all been nursing minor issues - will play against Wolfsburg and will be available for their opening Premier League game of the new season.
Both Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry are "progressing well" as they continue to recover from long-term injuries, but the defensive duo will not be involved against Wolfsburg, and the same can be said for new signing Igor Thiago who is sidelined until "late 2024" after sustaining a knee injury in the friendly against Wimbledon last month.
In-demand striker Ivan Toney has returned to training this week after an extended break following his involvement with England at Euro 2024, and the 28-year-old could feature in some capacity on Friday.
As for Wolfsburg, Joachim Maehle was forced off in the friendly draw with Como with an ankle injury following a robust challenge, and Hasenhuttl admitted after the match that the issue "didn't look good for Joakim".
Summer signing Mohamed Amoura missed the draw with Como after sustaining a minor knee problem in training, while Kilian Fischer, David Odogu, Mattias Svanberg, Aster Vranckx and Tiago Tomas were also absent as their workload was being monitored, and it remains to be seen if they will feature on Friday.
Goalkeeper Kamil Grabara, a €13m arrival from Copenhagen, is set to play between the sticks, while Jonas Wind, last season's top scorer with 12 goals, is in contention to lead the line.
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Yarmoliuk, Zanka, Collins, Ajer; Norgaard, Jensen, Damsgaard; Schade, Wissa, Mbeumo
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Grabara; Lacroix, Bornauw, Zesiger; Baku, Arnold, Dardai, Kaminski; Majer; Behrens, Wind
We say: Brentford 2-2 Wolfsburg
With both sides keen to end their respective pre-season programmes on a high, we expect a competitive, high-energy contest between these two well-matched teams.
Brentford's backline has been far from watertight so far this summer, but they have looked threatening in front of goal and they should do enough to claim at least share of the spoils in an entertaining draw with Wolfsburg.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
