Friday, November 4, 2016

Brentford v Fulham preview: West London derby live on Sky Sports

Brentford host Fulham live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Friday evening
Brentford host Fulham live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Friday evening

Brentford go in search of a derby double on Friday - live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 7pm - but boss Dean Smith is wary of a revitalised Fulham.

The Bees beat neighbours QPR 2-0 at Loftus Road seven days earlier, but now host their other west London rivals who are buoyed by a big Sky Bet Championship result of their own.

Brentford vs Fulham

November 4, 2016, 7:00pm

Live on Sky Sports 1 HD

Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass

"Winning away against your big rivals gives you a boost, and the whole week has been one full of confidence," Smith told Bees Player.

"The confidence that I had was certainly dented a little bit when I went to Fulham on Saturday and saw them beat Huddersfield 5-0!

Highlights of Brentford
Highlights of Brentford's 2-0 win at QPR last Friday

"We beat them 3-0 in our home game last season but their possession style was evident. Seeing them on Saturday it was similar. They maybe don't attack as quickly as other teams that we have played against but they were very patient on it.

"Every player can handle the ball and they have recruited well. They have got a lot of really good, technical footballers so we have to make sure that our game plan beats theirs."

Brentford
Brentford's Romaine Sawyers struck at Loftus Road last time out

Brentford will be without midfielder Lewis Macleod, who looks set to miss the rest of the season __with the knee injury he suffered last Friday.

Callum Elder is still out __with a knee problem, Rico Henry remains sidelined by a shoulder injury and Alan Judge is recovering from a broken leg.

Fulham could be unchanged at Griffin Park following their five-star display on Saturday.

Highlights of Fulham
Highlights of Fulham's 5-0 home win over Huddersfield

Defender Tomas Kalas is fit after a recent hamstring problem and Floyd Ayite has recovered from an ankle injury.

Manager Slavisa Jokanovic said at his pre-match press conference: "It's a derby. I understand it's a very important day for us and our supporters.

"We have good confidence, but Brentford are in good form too."

Ollie's prediction

I am not sure how confident Brentford will be after Fulham smashed Huddersfield 5-0. They will be delighted with their own form, which is great, with a fantastic victory at QPR.

So what Fulham are they going to see? Very, very impressive last week - wow - and every week there are some great games on and this is a really, good game. It will be really attacking, Brentford play some good stuff and Fulham were great last week.

OLLIE PREDICTS: 2-2 with Chris Martin to score first (Sky Bet odds 12/1)

Don't miss Brentford v Fulham, live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 7pm on Friday.