For a few decades, there was no doubting who the top club in West London was, as Chelsea swept up trophy after trophy from the late-1990s up until the early 2020s.
However, Brentford's rapid rise to the top flight of English football has threatened that local supremacy, and the Bees have claimed bragging rights more often than not in recent years over the Blues.
Here, Sports Mole looks back on the head-to-head record and some previous meetings between the two West London rivals.
© Imago
Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 22
Chelsea wins: 11
Draws: 4
Brentford wins: 7
With Brentford now establishing themselves as Premier League regulars, it is hard to believe they spent almost a century outside of the top flight.
On their long-awaited return to the top table in 2021, Brentford were beaten at home by Chelsea in both the league and the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.
Thomas Frank's men made up for that, though, by stunning the reigning European Champions 4-1 at Stamford Bridge, with Vitaly Janelt netting twice.
The Bees would go on to win their next two games at Stamford Bridge too, both by two goals to nil, becoming the first team to ever win on their first three trips to the venue in Premier League history.
At home, though, Brentford are still yet to win a Premier League game against the Blues, having drawn with them in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons at the Gtech.
A first defeat at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League era eventually came in December 2024 too, with Marc Cucurella and Nicolas Jackson goals sinking the Bees, despite a spirited late fightback in a 2-1 loss.
The history between the two clubs dates much further back than the recent seasons Brentford have spent in the Premier League, though.
As Second Division champions in 1935, Brentford won promotion to the top tier for the first time, and they would face Chelsea in the four seasons prior to World War Two.
Chelsea won their first three home games against Brentford all by a scoreline of 2-1, but then lost both league matches against the Bees in the 1938-39 season, with both narrowly avoiding relegation.
The outbreak of war meant that the two teams would not meet again for another seven-and-a-half years, and with Brentford one of the weakest clubs post-WW2, they suffered relegation in the first season back, with Chelsea doing the league double over them.
It is not just in the league where they two have faced off though, because shortly after Brentford's relegation, they were drawn against each other in the third round of the FA Cup in 1950, with the Blues winning narrowly 1-0.
Sixty-three years passed before they met again in any capacity, and it was in the FA Cup once more, with League One Brentford being handed a dream draw at home to the Premier League giants in round four.
Not only that, Uwe Rosler's men forced a replay, and could have won the tie on the day, leading twice, before Fernando Torres's 83rd-minute strike saw the game end 2-2.
The replay ended in a 4-0 drubbing in favour of Chelsea, and the same scoreline, at the same venue, in the same round of the same competition ensued when they were drawn together again in 2017.
Last 20 meetings
Dec 15, 2024: Chelsea 2-1 Brentford (Premier League)
Mar 02, 2024: Brentford 2-2 Chelsea (Premier League)
Oct 28, 2023: Chelsea 0-2 Brentford (Premier League)
Apr 26, 2023: Chelsea 0-2 Brentford (Premier League)
Oct 19, 2022: Brentford 0-0 Chelsea (Premier League)
Apr 02, 2022: Chelsea 1-4 Brentford (Premier League)
Dec 22, 2021: Brentford 0-2 Chelsea (EFL Cup Quarter-Finals)
Oct 16, 2021: Brentford 0-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
Jan 28, 2017: Chelsea 4-0 Brentford (FA Cup Fourth Round)
Feb 17, 2013: Chelsea 4-0 Brentford (FA Cup Fourth Round Replay)
Jan 27, 2013: Brentford 2-2 Chelsea (FA Cup Fourth Round)
Jan 07, 1950: Brentford 0-1 Chelsea (FA Cup Third Round)
Mar 15, 1947: Brentford 0-2 Chelsea (First Division)
Nov 09, 1946: Chelsea 3-2 Brentford (First Division)
Feb 25, 1939: Chelsea 1-3 Brentford (First Division)
Oct 22, 1938: Brentford 1-0 Chelsea (First Division)
Mar 09, 1938: Brentford 1-1 Chelsea (First Division)
Oct 23, 1937: Chelsea 2-1 Brentford (First Division)
Apr 17, 1937: Brentford 1-0 Chelsea (First Division)
Dec 12, 1936: Chelsea 2-1 Brentford (First Division)
Previous Premier League meetings
Dec 15, 2024: Chelsea 2-1 Brentford
Mar 02, 2024: Brentford 2-2 Chelsea
Oct 28, 2023: Chelsea 0-2 Brentford
Apr 26, 2023: Chelsea 0-2 Brentford
Oct 19, 2022: Brentford 0-0 Chelsea
Apr 02, 2022: Chelsea 1-4 Brentford
Oct 16, 2021: Brentford 0-1 Chelsea
Andrew Delaney
