Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior (right) arrives at Selhurst Park with his squad and staff.
Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior (right) arrives at Selhurst Park with his squad and staff.
Though JP Mateta wants out of Palace, he’s in the XI this afternoon, with Glasner making three changes: Yeremy Pino, Justin Devenny and Will Hughes drop out, with Daniel Muñoz, Jaydee Canvot and Ismaila Sarr coming in.
Keith Andrews, whose hair hasn’t moved in at least a year, not unlike Douglas Hurd’s Spitting Image puppet, retains faith with the side which lost at Chelsea last weekend. Jordan Henderson returns from injury, but must content himself with a place on the bench.
Photograph: Spitting Image
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Right, now let’s go through the changes, after which we’ll explain them and ponder what we might see…
Brentford (4-3-3): Kelleher; Kayode, Ajer, Collins, Henry; Jensen, Yarmoliuk, Janelt; Damsgaard, Thiago, Schade. Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Van den Berg, Pinnock, Henderson, Nelson, Ouattara, Lewis-Potter, Donovan.
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Sels; Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Aina; Sangare, Anderson; Dominguez, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Igor Jesus. Subs: Gunn, Morato, Awoniyi, Ndoye, Hutchinson, Yates, McAtee, Bakwa, Savona.
Crystal Palace (3-4-3): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Canvot; Muñoz, Lerma, Wharton, Mitchell; Sarr, Johnson, Mateta. Subs: Benitez, Pino, Uche, Hughes, Sosa, Imray, Riad, Rodney, Devenny.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella; Santos, Caicedo; Estevao, Fernandez, Neto; Joao Pedro. Subs: Sharman-Lowe, Acheampong, Fofana, Gusto, Hato, Garnacho, Gittens, Delap, Guiu.
Newcastle United (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Botman, Thiaw, Hall; Joelinton, Miley, Tonali; Barnes, Wissa, Gordon. Subs: Ramsdale, Osula, Elanga, Woltemade, Willock, Burn, A. Murphy, Ramsey, Shahar.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen; Onana, Tielemans; Sancho, Buendia, Rogers; Watkins. Subs: Bizot, Lindelof, Digne, Mings, Bogarde, Hemmings, Bailey, Elliott, Guessand.
He knows how many days it is since Brentford lost 3-1 to Forest on the opening day, saying it was a big day for his team. His players wanted to go over the game, which he thinks is good, and notes that it was only 45 minutes of pain really – his team won the second half.
Results were important early on, he continues, he wanted the team ti play with an edge, and he’s happy with how it’s going. Tactically, he thinks Brentford are playing with more control, some of which is confidence and some of which is training-ground work, citing the contribution of Vitaly Janelt whose presence facilitates that. Early in the season, Brentford weren’t playing as he wanted them to, but they’re closer to it now.
The spread of fixtures across a footballing week and weekend is, of course, a complete nonsense, imposed upon us by avaricious suits who think football exists to make (then) money rather than makes (them) money because it exists; unfortunately, we need to start there. But once we’ve noted that, it’s hard not to luxuriate in this afternoon’s buffet, three matches each of which is enticing enough to stand alone.
Villa sits seven points off the leaders and must win today if they’re to sustain the invigorating pretence that they’re in the title race. Newcastle, meanwhile, are only three points off fourth place and nothing if not a physical challenge, especially at home. They’ll be a tough test for visitors showing signs of flagging.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are still settling under Liam Rosenior, while Oliver Glasner’s Palace are falling apart. They may have enough points to avoid being hauled into relegation aggravation, but a couple more defeats – easily imaginable, especially with Marc Guéhi getting gone and JP Mateta planning to do likewise - along with a couple more wins for West Ham – less so but they are improving – and they’re right in it.
Nottingham Forest, meantime, already are, just two points clear of the bottom three. And in Brentford, they find a side many of us felt would be where Sean Dyche’s men are, but instead are absolutely loving life under Keith Andrews, pushing for European football. Like the best buffets, it might not be pretty but will definitely be intense, so let’s get a tray and dive into our ill-gotten gluttony because what else can we do?
Kick-offs: 2pm GMT