Chelsea will welcome London rivals Brentford to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Sunday night.
Following a brilliant start to life under Enzo Maresca, the Blues appear to be blossoming into genuine title contenders.
Last time out, Chelsea solidified that notion by coming from two goals down to win a 4-3 thriller away at Tottenham.
That Tottenham Hotspur Stadium triumph moved Chelsea to within four points of Premier League leaders Liverpool, though the Reds could be seven points in front by the time Maresca’s men take to the field on Sunday night.
As for Brentford, they kept up their excellent home form with a 4-2 win over Newcastle last weekend, in a game that brought up one of my bets.
However, Thomas Frank’s ninth-placed team have picked up just one Premier League point on their travels this term, and they will be hard tasked to add to that measly tally when they make the short trip across town this weekend.
How the bookies view it: Blues to swat aside Bees
Chelsea – who have won each of their last four Premier League games – are firm 3/10 favourites on Boylesports.
Brentford are as big as 7/1 on Boylesports to land their maiden Premier League away win of the season on Sunday, while a share of the Stamford Bridge spoils is also considered unlikely at 9/2 with the same firm.
Head to head: Bees tend to sting Blues
Brentford will draw confidence from their record in this fixture in recent times. The Bees have lost just one of their overall six Premier League meetings with Chelsea, avoiding defeat in each of the last five.
Players to watch: Cole on the goal trail
Cole Palmer moved within two goals of both Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah at the top of the Premier League scoring charts after striking twice against Spurs last Sunday. The Blues talisman is a best price of 20/23 on Boylesports to make the net bulge for the fourth league game in succession against Brentford this weekend.
Yoane Wissa hit his ninth Premier League goal of the season against Newcastle last time out. The Brentford forward is 10/3 (Boylesports) to repeat the trick at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Predicted line-ups
Chelsea boss Maresca will almost certainly revert back to his strongest XI after fielding a second string in a 3-1 win over FC Astana in the Europa Conference League on Thursday afternoon. However, Pedro Neto is unavailable due to suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last Sunday.
Brentford will again be without injured defensive duo Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry, however Vitaly Janelt could be fit enough to come back into the squad this weekend.
Chelsea: Sanchez; Caicedo, Badiashile, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Lavia; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson
Brentford: Flekken; Van den Berg, Collins, Pinnock; Mbeumo, Norgaard, Yarmoliuk, Lewis-Potter; Wissa, Carvalho; Thiago,
Anything else catch the eye?
Elsewhere, the aforementioned Cole Palmer looks worth siding with to be fouled twice or more during this all-London affair on Sunday night.
The Chelsea ace has been fouled at least twice in eight of his last 12 Premier League outings, including four times away at Tottenham last time out.
Christian Norgaard – who has committed multiple fouls in four of his last 11 top-flight appearances – could be tasked with trying to keep Palmer quiet.
This English Premier League match between Chelsea and Brentford will be played on Dec 15, 2024 and kick off at 19:00. Check below for our tipsters best Chelsea vs Brentford prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
