Less than a week on from their first capital clash of the season, Brentford head to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham in Saturday's Premier League West London derby.

Thomas Frank's side held Tottenham Hotspur to a 2-2 draw last weekend, while the Cottagers were fortunate to run out 1-0 winners against Everton.

Match preview

Had it not been for the heroics of Bernd Leno in goal and a spate of wasted opportunities from Sean Dyche's Everton, Fulham could and probably should have travelled home from Goodison Park without all three points in the bag on the opening weekend.

While Everton were able to create plenty of openings against Marco Silva's backline, the Toffees' profligacy came back to bite them once more, as a second-half Bobby Decordova-Reid strike propelled Fulham to an arguably undeserved success.

The Cottagers' Goodison Park triumph is good enough for fifth place in the Premier League table with one gameweek done and dusted, although Everton were left indignant after a Michael Keane strike was ruled out for a perceived foul on Leno by James Tarkowski.

However, ex-Everton boss Silva admitted that it was "not a good performance" from his Cottagers team, although continued uncertainty surrounding the futures of attacking duo Aleksandar Mitrovic and Willian is doing them no favours whatsoever.

Fulham did not help themselves at Craven Cottage during the back end of last season, though, as they won just two of their final seven Premier League home matches in 2022-23 and have kept just one top-flight clean sheet in front of their own fans since the end of October.

Thomas Frank and Ange Postecoglou's commitment to attacking football is well-documented, and it therefore came as little surprise to see the goals fly in at the Gtech Community Stadium, where an unforeseen issue with the water supply delayed kickoff last Sunday.

Cristian Romero headed home the opening goal of that London derby, but Brentford capitalised on Spurs' defensive shortcomings to storm ahead through Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo, who continue to make their mark while the banned Ivan Toney sits on the naughty step.

However, the glut of first-half goals was not done there, as Emerson Royal found the bottom corner with aplomb to rescue a point for a Harry Kane-less Tottenham, in a repeat of last year's 2-2 Boxing Day draw on Brentford's turf.

An entertaining stalemate with Tottenham was by no means a disastrous result for Brentford in the wake of their winless pre-season, and their final two away wins of the 2022-23 season coincidentally came against London clubs, defeating both Spurs and Chelsea on their own territories.

Fulham and Brentford were familiar foes in the Championship before their promotions to the top flight - the Cottagers bested the Bees in the 2020 playoff final - and Silva's side edged a five-goal thriller 3-2 at Craven Cottage in August 2022 before Frank's men gained revenge with an identical victory five months back.

Team News

The tough-tackling Joao Palhinha was missing for Fulham last week due to a shoulder injury, but he has since recovered and will be a part of the matchday squad here, although whether he is able to start is another question.

Aleksandar Mitrovic's alleged threats never to wear the Fulham shirt again have not come true, but Al-Hilal are finally thought to be closing in on a deal to sign the Serbian striker, who did come off the bench against Everton before sustaining an ankle injury, which has rendered him unavailable for this derby.

Willian is also said to have agreed terms over a move to Al-Shabab only weeks after penning a new deal with Fulham, and the Brazilian was taken off at half time against Everton for goalscorer Reid, who ought to come straight back into the side on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Brentford attacker Mbeumo escaped unharmed from a clash of heads with Tottenham's Romero last weekend - which is more than can be said for the Argentine - but Mathias Jensen was brought off just four minutes into the second half.

Frank confirmed that the Denmark international had sustained a thigh injury, but he has revealed that his countryman will be able to make an immediate return to action this week, forcing Mikkel Damsgaard, Josh Dasilva, Shandon Baptiste and the returning Frank Onyeka to accept minutes from the bench again.

Ben Mee (calf) will also need a once-over before the trip to Craven Cottage, while David Raya's initial loan move to Arsenal has now been confirmed, cementing Mark Flekken's place as the Bees' number one.

Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Tete, Diop, Ream, Robinson; Reed, Lukic; Wilson, Pereira, Decordova-Reid; Jimenez

Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Hickey, Mee, Pinnock, Collins, Henry; Janelt, Norgaard, Jensen; Mbeumo, Wissa

We say: Fulham 0-2 Brentford

Most if not all Fulham fans will accept that their side were incredibly fortunate to kick off their season with a win last weekend, but their luck should quickly run out against a progressive Brentford team.

A misfiring Raul Jimenez is unlikely to be the solution to Fulham's attacking predicament if Willian and Mitrovic both depart, and with Palhinha still not at 100%, Brentford could notch a couple of goals en route to their first West London derby win of the campaign.


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