Brentford are just about to complete their fourth consecutive season in the Premier League and are pushing for a European place, a feat that defies most pundits’ pre-season predictions of a season of struggle and could see them finish with their highest league position to date.

They come into this one unbeaten in five and off the back of three consecutive wins against Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United. With just three games left they could end up finishing as high as sixth or as low as 12th given how tight it still is at the top.

Last time out (Brentford 4 – 3 Ipswich)

In the first top-flight meeting of these two sides it was Brentford with the early pressure, but Town created the first clear-cut chance with a lovely flowing move. Dara O’Shea rolled the ball in to Kalvin Phillips whose defence-splitting pass bounced off the heels of George Hirst up onto the defender.

Hirst was quickest to the rebound and laid it off to Sammie Szmodics, who had kept up with play and opened his body perfectly to place a shot past the dive of Mark Flekken in the Brentford goal.

O’Shea was then at it again with another great ball through the middle. After a couple of ricochets, it fell to Conor Chaplin who played an expertly weighted ball into Hirst. The frontman had once again had run off the shoulder of the last defender and he found the back of the net with a lovely dinked finish past Flekken and into the net to make it 2-0 to Ipswich Town.

The only downside of that goal was the long-term injury to Chiedozie Ogbene, who had to be stretchered off.

Cameron Burgess had a header from range saved before Szmodics should have made it three. Town pressed excellently and the former Blackburn man nicked the ball ahead of Norgaard from Flekken’s ball out. He tried to give the keeper the eyes and place it past him at the near post but the Dutchman redeemed himself with a great save, somehow keeping the ball out with an outstretched leg and a trailing hand.

Brentford pulled one back as Keane Lewis-Potter went on a mazy run down the left, sucking players in before playing a great ball to the underlapping Vitaly Janelt. Janelt squared first time into the path of Yoann Wissa, who had shrugged off the attentions of Leif Davis, and was able to calmly side-foot into the net to make it 1-2.

Town conceded again not long after when a Brentford move, starting at the back, expertly beat the press. Davis was drawn in too high on the initial contact, Burgess wasn’t quick enough closing down Bryan Mbeumo, who flicked it inside where Cajuste had lost Michael Damsgaard.

The Bees’ creative Dane then slotted Wissa in calmy in an almost carbon copy of Ipswich’s second at the other end albeit with a scruffier finish with Wissa firing through Muric’s legs and off the head of a sliding Harry Clarke, whose efforts to keep the ball out of the net were in vain.

A two-goal lead thrown away by half-time. The last thing you need to do is do anything stupid in the second half. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Town did. A quick free-kick out to Lewis-Potter caught Harry Clarke out of position. The Brentford man was then too quick for the full-back, nodding it past him and falling in the box due to Clarke’s arm on his shoulder in what was another controversial decision going against Town with the foul appearing to start outside the area.

Mbeumo made no mistake with a stuttered run up before firing the penalty into the roof of the net as Muric went the wrong way.

Town had an opportunity to draw level as Davis found Wes Burns with a crossfield ball but the Welshman fired wide under pressure.

Brentford then dominated with a number of chances, Lewis-Potter causing particular problems before being felled by Harry Clarke. This saw the Ipswich boy received his second yellow card of the game, harshly replays showed as he had won the ball. Damsgaard fired the resultant free-kick narrowly over.

Town then had to defend as Brentford carved out chance after chance before something miraculous happened against the run of play.

Burgess found Davis with a lovely weighted ball out on the left-hand side. The left-back took a couple of touches before whipping into the box from deep, where Liam Delap had timed his run to perfection and executed an in-air toe poke which was defied physics to send the ball into the back of the net.

If what happened next hadn’t happened that would have been one of the top moments of the season for me as the away end was bouncing and singing and celebrating what would have been a deserved point fighting against some contentious decisions.

Alas poor Muric, I knew him well. Individual errors struck again when Mbeumo cut inside from the right and from a position of no danger whipped in a left-footed cross which, dipped, bounced and left the flat-footed Kosovan stranded as it settled into the bottom corner of the net to leave Town with no points for their troubles on their trip back to Suffolk.

Players to watch

Bryan Mbeumo & Yoann Wissa

You can’t really talk about one without the other this season. The pair have 18 goals apiece. Mbeumo also has six assists to Wissa’s three. Both were on the scoresheet the last time these sides met.

There have only been 13 games this season where at least one of them hasn’t found the back of the net. There have been seven occasions when both of them have.

Mbeumo has a wicked left-foot delivery, unrelenting pace and a composed finish from the spot, whilst Wissa has mastered the art of poaching and is also blessed with rapid pace that means he’s constantly testing defences with his runs in behind.

Between them, they provide such a threat that Brentford can go from goalkeeper to goal in just seconds and love getting the ball up the pitch in as few touches as possible.

Kevin Schade

Kevin Schade has made that potent front two an even more potent front three in recent times with three goals in his last two games, taking him to ten in total for the season. His recent double against Manchester United were carbon copy headers and he adds a physical presence to the frontline which means Brentford now have even more strings to add to their bow.

Michael Kayode

Kayode has only made three starts since joining on loan from Fiorentina but I've picked him out because of how impressed I was with him against Manchester United.

The right-back looked quick and powerful, had some great interplay in and around the box, barely misplaced a pass and to top it off had an excellent long throw that caused havoc as United struggled to defend it.

The Teams

I asked @BeesBreakdown for some thoughts on Brentford’s team selection and he’s predicting an unchanged line-up. One of the big things he did point out was how clinical in front of goal the Bees have been with the highest shot on target percentage, highest goals per shot and the shortest shot distance in the league.

This fits with Thomas Frank’s philosophy of not wasting the ball and only shooting in the right areas and it’s clearly a plan that has come to fruition considering the Bees’ current league position.

Out of possession, BeesBreakdown suggested they would use a situational high press, going man to man at times but dropping in to zonal marking for situations such as goal-kicks and throw-ins.

They’re very organised most of the time, but will throw caution to the wind on attacking set pieces (largely corners and throw-ins) and try to overload the opposition, which can leave them vulnerable on the counter-attack in those situations.

Another thing that he pointed out was how they like to bait the press, something that was very successful in the reverse fixture for their second goal.

Finally, he picked out Damsgaard as their key man, citing his 10 assists in addition to his out of possession work-rate with pressing and winning second balls.

For Town, the injury issues seem to have eased a bit. Axel Tuanzebe could be fit to come back in at right-back at just the right time with the rest of the backline unchanged.

Kalvin Phillips and Jens Cajuste were both fit enough for minutes off the bench against Everton and it would be lovely to see that midfield pairing one more time.

Up the top of the pitch, George Hirst was a surprise starter in the reverse fixture and could be include again, potentially with Ben Johnson, who has served his suspension, Omari Hutchinson and Julio Enciso behind him.

Prediction

Oh how great it would be to finally get that second win at Portman Road. Sadly, I think Town fans may have to wait until the last day of the season for that one.

There is some hope though. Eight of Brentford’s 13 losses this season have come away from home. With Town’s squad depth improving as the games go by, I can see this one being an entertaining 3-3 draw.

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