Brentford-West Ham is an FA Cup third round match and is played on Saturday at 18:30: likely formations, predictions, live TV and streaming.
The club have been unbeaten for six days now, collecting a total of ten points in challenges against the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham and West Ham. The fairytale of Brentford, the London club that only returned to the top flight in 2021 after more than seventy years since its last participation, shows no sign of stopping. The Bees, not content with the quiet salvation achieved last season, are doing even better.
And they seem to have all the credentials to continue hanging around on the left side of the table. After eighteen league rounds they have 26 points and are not even too far from Europe, as seventh-placed Fulham have only two more. Impressive was the 3-1 victory with which the men led by Dane Thomas Frank on Monday tamed none other than Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, who returned empty-handed from the capital. Without forgetting that, before the World Cup break, Brentford had defeated the other great Premier League battleship, Haaland and Guardiola’s Manchester City, 1-2. The red-and-whites scored with great frequency – already 30 goals – led by their goal scorer Ivan Toney, always very lucid in front of goal despite the risk of a heavy disqualification for an affair related to football offences. For the Bees there is now the third round of the FA Cup, where they will meet again West Ham, a few days after the Premier League challenge, ended 0-2 for Toney and his mates.
West Ham can’t seem to shift gears
In the other domestic cup, the League Cup, last November did not go so well as Brenford were eliminated by lowly Gillingham, who prevailed on penalties.
Bowen and Mee during league match
Shots from the penalty spot were also fatal for the Hammers, who two months ago were ousted from the third national competition by a Championship side, Blackburn. So far, were it not for the excellent results in the Conference League, it has been a disappointing season for David Moyes’ team, entangled in the fight not to be relegated. In the midweek round of the championship came a draw (2-2) at home to Leeds. Nothing exceptional, but at least it ended a run of five defeats in a row.
The Prediction
Between the two who are better off is definitely Brentford, but in the cup many things can change. Starting with the formation that the respective coaches will choose, who could field several reserves from the 1′. It will almost certainly be a harder-fought challenge than in the league, where West Ham may have more motivation. Both should score at least one goal on each side.
Brentford-West Ham’s likely line-up
- BRENTFORD (3-5-2): Strakosha; Zanka, Pinnock, Mee; Roerslev, Jensen, Norgaard, Dasilva, Henry; Mbeumo, Toney.
- WEST HAM (4-3-3): Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Aguerd, Kehrer; Paqueta, Rice, Soucek; Benrahma, Antonio, Fornals.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2
