High-flying Nottingham Forest make the journey to the capital this Saturday as they prepare to battle Brentford in the Premier League.
The Midlands side enter the weekend in fourth spot after a sensational start to the season under Nuno Espirito Santo, with dramatic recent victories over Manchester United and Aston Villa highlighting their character and quality. They boast one of the best defensive records in the division and one of England's most in-form centre-forwards in Chris Wood at the other end.
However, the trip to west London will be no walkover. Brentford, somewhat surprisingly, have the best home record in the Premier League this season, winning seven and drawing one of their eight matches at the Gtech Community Stadium. The Bees have managed just a solitary point on the road but are a completely different animal on home soil, scoring 26 times - six more than any other side.
Here is 90min's guide to an intriguing Premier League duel.
Brentford vs Nottingham Forest H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
Brentford Nottingham Forest
Newcastle 3-1 Brentford - 18/12/24 Nottingham Forest 2-1 Aston Villa - 14/12/24
Chelsea 2-1 Brentford - 15/12/24 Man Utd 2-3 Nottingham Forest - 07/12/24
Brentford 4-2 Newcastle - 07/12/24 Man City 3-0 Nottingham Forest - 04/12/24
Aston Villa 3-1 Brentford - 04/12/24 Nottingham Forest 1-0 Ipswich - 30/11/24
Brentford 4-1 Leicester - 30/11/24 Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest - 23/11/24
Country TV channel/live stream
United Kingdom Not televised - live radio commentary on BBC Radio London and BBC Radio Nottingham
United States fuboTV, nbcsports.com, NBC Sports App, UNIVERSO NOW, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, USA Network, UNIVERSO
Canada fuboTV Canada
Thomas Frank, Ethan Pinnock
Ethan Pinnock is likely to miss out / Michael Regan/GettyImages
Brentford's injury list has only grown over recent weeks with long-term absentees joined by a number of first-teamers.
Joshua Dasilva, Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry and Gustavo Nunes are all still unavailable, while influential midfielder Mathias Jensen is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury that's likely to rule him out until the new year.
Summer recruit Igor Thiago has struggled with injuries this term and has missed the last two outings with a knock. He could feature against Forest, as could Sepp van den Berg after he was injured in the warm-up against Newcastle on Wednesday evening.
Ethan Pinnock is less likely to feature after sustaining a hamstring injury at St James' Park but he will be assessed prior to kick-off.
Brentford predicted lineup vs Nottingham Forest (3-4-2-1): Flekken; Ajer, Mee, Collins; Roerslev, Norgaard, Janelt, Lewis-Potter; Mbeumo, Schade; Wissa.
Murillo
Murillo could feature despite being an injury doubt / Alex Davidson/GettyImages
Forest have a few injury concerns of their own heading to London, with midfield duo Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare still absent with long-term injuries. The former has been missing since the opening day with a broken ankle and the latter has been absent since September because of a hamstring issue.
Ryan Yates, who has often filled in for Danilo and Sangare, is a doubt to feature on Saturday after twisting his ankle in the 2-1 victory over Villa last weekend. Centre-back Murillo also sustained a knock against the Villans and could potentially miss out this weekend.
Nottingham Forest predicted lineup vs Brentford (4-2-3-1): Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Morato, Moreno; Dominguez, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.
Only Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have scored more goals than Brentford in the Premier League this season, with 81.3% of their goals coming at the Gtech. Forest's defence has been rock solid for much of the season but they're unlikely to keep a clean sheet on Saturday.
However, Brentford's attacking prowess is undermined by an incredibly shaky defensive record. They have managed just one clean sheet in 16 matches in the league and have conceded 14 on home soil this term. Forest should be able to take advantage on turnovers and from set pieces.
It will be a fiercely fought affair between two contrasting styles - and they may just cancel one another out.
Prediction: Brentford 2-2 Nottingham Forest
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