Brentford vs Crystal Palace brings fans the opportunity to enjoy another London derby in the 2023/24 Premier League
London is the only city in the world with more than three teams competing at the same time in the country’s top-flight league. This is what makes London derbies special.
Brentford vs Crystal Palace may not be on the same level as Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur or the Chelsea vs Fulham battles of old, but it has now become a part of the Premier League’s London derby history and lineup.
There will be fans from all around at the Brentford Community Stadium, home of the Bees who are hosting the Eagles from Selhurst Park.
Speaking of Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace is coming from another London derby into the Brentford game. In two matches, they have three points (one win, one loss). The loss came to Arsenal at their home, Selhurst Park. Despite how the game ended, manager Roy Hodgson was full of praise for his team, believing that they are on the right track.
“I thought the shape of the team was good. I thought the team discipline was very good too. We worked very, very hard,” Hodgson said. “It was a very well organised performance and disciplined performance.”
That discipline has seen them concede only one goal so far. It is early days, but as Hodgson stated, it is an improvement from their performance last season.
As they prepare to travel to the Community Stadium, they will be wary of a very motivated and happy Brentford, whose manager could not stop waxing lyrical about his strikers and his team’s overall performance on the road in their own London derby against Fulham on matchday 2.
Speaking after the 3 – 0 thrashing of their fellow London club, Frank said: “Maybe I’ll have a glass of red later. It’s always easier off the back of a 3-0 win, and we need to enjoy it.
“It’s more fun to be on the end of a 3-0 win than the other way around. It’s about enjoying the wins that we get. Great goal by Wissa. It’s not as easy as it looked.
“It means a lot that the last two games our strikers have scored five goals. I have been confident that Wissa, Byran, Kevin [Schade] or Keane [Lewis-Potter] will score.
“There’s a good understanding between Byran and Wissa. Kevin and Keane are adding to it. We have very good, fluid movement.”
Playing a happy team in a period when your strikers are not scoring much will not be a nice experience for Roy Hodgson. Read on for more match information.
Match Tickets
Brentford vs Crystal Palace tickets are going to be sold out in the next few days thanks to this being a London derby.
The capital city will be taken over by football for the next eight months and every match featuring a London club will be sold out.
Neutrals will also be interested in tickets but they may not be able to get them via the official websites of both clubs, where the tickets are currently selling. Ticket reselling platforms will be employed by fans, fan groups and bodies who have tickets to move on.
These reselling platforms will also serve impatient fans who may not be willing to be on a waitlist for the tickets from the official platforms.
Fans at home in and around the United Kingdom can watch the match live on Sky Sports at 3 PM on Saturday 26 August 2023. The match will also be broadcast live to every other region of the world where the Premier League is followed.
The Brentford Community Stadium will play host to the Eagles as the Bees attempt to sting them back to Selhurst Park.
Team news
Brentford finally have Frank Onyeka back in full force and may hand him his first start of the season against Crystal Palace. But they still have Josh Dasilva (hamstring strain; unknown recovery date) and Ben Mee (calf problem; unknown recovery date) to worry about.
There has been no movement from the club in the transfer market in recent times, with their last and most recent signing being Nathan Collins from Wolves. The young centre-back is already deputizing well for the injured veteran Mee.
There is no indication that things could change in the transfer window for Brentford, as manager Thomas Frank looks to be okay with the team he has assembled for his goals in the 2023/24 Premier League.
Crystal Palace, meanwhile, have finally signed Michael Olise to a big new contract to ward off pursuit from Chelsea. The midfielder is still out injured, but Eagles’ fans will rest easy that when he recovers, he will put on the red and blue of their club again.
Will Hughes (twisted knee; unknown recovery date) and Matheus Franca (lower back problem; unknown recovery date) are the other absentees from Hodgson’s team.
Like Brentford, it is unknown if Crystal Palace will still carry out any transfer activity. Most of their focus has been on convincing Olsie to remain so with that out of the way, it remains to be seen what moves they will make before 1 September.
Lineups
Frank Onyeka is in line to return to the starting lineup but it is unlikely that Thomas Frank thrusts him straight into the action. He will be coming off the bench in the game, however, in order to get some minutes on his legs in preparation for other games.
This means that the starting midfield of Mathias Jensen, Vitaly Janelt and Christian Nørgaard will keep their places in the squad.
New signing Kevin Schade gave a good account of himself against Fulham, so he is likely to play alongside Bryan Mbeumo and Yoanne Wissa in attack for the Bees.
Brentford: Flekken; Henry, Pinnock, Collins, Hickey; Jensen, Nørgaard, Janelt; Schade, WIssa, Mbeumo
Crystal Palace have not changed their starting XI since opening day and are unlikely to do so against Brentford. Roy Hodgson is a man who is set in his ways, partially because of his age and experience and partially because he is one who tends to get many things right at first trial. The rest will be up to the execution of his players.
Crystal Palace: Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Lerma, Doucoure; Ayew, Eze, Schlupp; Edouard.
Prediction
Brentford are flying high in the 2023/24 Premier League season and even though it is now an overflogged issue, it is important to note that they have done it all without Ivan Toney in their team.
The new pairing of Bryan Mbeumo and Yoanne Wissa works perfectly for them. Against their fellow London club, Crystal Palace, both players will lead the line once more and could get on the scoresheet for the third consecutive matchday.
Crystal Palace, meanwhile, are going to be less outgoing thanks to the days they have lost due to having played against Arsenal on Monday night. However, Roy Hodgson will continue to make sure that his defence holds still so that Thomas Frank’s attacking tactics do not penetrate it and give the Bees a big win on the day.
As implied, the Bees will take this London derby at the Brentford Community Stadium.
Brentford 2-1 Crystal Palace
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