Chelsea are back in Premier League action on Saturday after two consecutive cup games, with a West London derby against Brentford on the cards.
The Blues fell short in the Carabao Cup final last week and laboured past Leeds United in midweek to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Now, Chelsea will look to edge back into the top half of the Premier League table and make it three consecutive unbeaten top-flight games as they head to the Gtech Community Stadium.
Chris Sutton and Paul Merson, two pundits who routinely predict the Premier League’s fixtures, have differing views on how Mauricio Pochettino’s charges will fare.
Sutton, writing on BBC Sport, reckons Chelsea will leave Brentford with just a point in a 1-1 draw.
“Basically, I can’t see past a draw, because I can’t trust either team to play well enough to win,” wrote the former Blues forward.
Meanwhile, Merson is a little more optimistic. He reckons Chelsea will have just enough to sneak a 2-1 win at TW8.
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“Brentford have a decent record against Chelsea and are in a spot of bother after Everton’s points deduction was reduced to six,” Merson wrote on Sportskeeda.
“Their squad has been reduced to its bare bones due to injuries, so I think Chelsea will get the job done here.”
Chelsea eager to make it two wins in a row in all competitions as they head to Brentford
Chelsea’s recent record against Brentford is indeed pretty poor. They have won just one out of five games in the league since their promotion in 2021, and they’re winless in four against them.
In addition, the Bees beat the Blues in this season’s reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge. However, that was back in October, and Chelsea have certainly improved since then.
With the Blues having won in midweek, they’ll be eager to make it two victories in a row in all competitions and hopefully get the better of a local rival and bogey team.
With Pochettino having rotated his squad in midweek, we should see some of Chelsea’s big guns return.
If you want to see who The Chelsea Chronicle has backed to make the starting XI against Brentford, click here.
