Brentford vs Brighton: Premier League Preview, Gameweek 10, 2022

Brighton will travel to west London on Friday, looking to capitalise on Brentford's poor form, with Thomas Frank's side not winning since the international break.

The visitors aim to cement their European spot after they dropped from fourth to seventh following a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last week at the Amex.

Roberto De Zerbi will be eager to gain his first victory as Brighton manager against a Brentford side who sit four points and four places below them in the table.

Brentford will be hoping to improve on their woeful form against the Seagulls, having not beaten them at home since 2014. They also suffered two defeats against Brighton last season, failing to score in either game.

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When Brighton visited the Gtech Community Stadium in September last season, they ended Brentford's unbeaten start to the campaign, courtesy of a 90th minute winner from Leandro Trossard- who will be seeking to continue his fine form, following a phenomenal hat trick in Brighton's last away game against Liverpool.

The Belgian winger became just the third player to score thrice at Anfield and will pose a great threat to the Brentford defence who have conceded five goals in their last two home games.

Though Brentford have been fragile in defence recently, only five Premier League teams have scored more than them since the opening day. It is expected that Frank will revert back to a 4-3-3 formation- the same formation he used in Brentford's last victory, a 5-2 thrashing of Leeds United.

Team news

Brentford:

The Bees have no new injury concerns but Pontus Jansson (hamstring), Christian Norgaard (achilles) and Keane Lewis-Potter (ankle) are expected to remain sidelined.

Despite suffering their biggest Premier League defeat last week, a 5-1 defeat to Newcastle. Attacking duo Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo are expected to keep their places in the starting 11. The duo have a combined 9 goals in all competitions this season.

Despite making his first appearance of the season in Brentford's previous outing. Ethan Pinnock may fear being dropped to the bench after making a mistake which lead to a goal and converting into his own net in the thumping at St. James' park.

Brighton

The south-coast side tragically announced on Monday that midfielder Enock Mwepu had been forced to retire due to a hereditary heart condition. The 24 year-old fell ill on international duty while flying to join the Zambian national side.

Mwepu will be a huge loss to the Brighton fans. It seemed as though their 2021 summer signing had secured his place as a first team regular, making six appearances before the international break.

This will provide Brighton with extra incentive to earn all three points and they aim to do so without any fresh injury problems. But Polish midfielder Jakub Moder remains out with a long-term knee injury.

Despite not scoring yet this season, striker Danny Welbeck is expected to start once again in the company of Pascal Gross and Trossard.

Likely lineups

Brentford: Raya; Hickey, Ajer, Mee, Henry; Dasilva, Janelt, Jensen; Mbeumo, Toney, Damsgaard (4-3-3).

Brighton: Sanchez; Veltman, Dunk, Webster; March, Mac Allister, Caicedo, Estupinan; Gross, Trossard; Welbeck (3-4-2-1).

Key players

Ivan Toney (Brentford):

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Many will feel as though Toney was extremely unlucky to not make his England debut at the recent internationals. He tops Brentford's charts for both goals (6) and assists (3). The only players to have scored more Premier League goals than Toney so far this season are Harry Kane and the seemingly inhuman Erling Haaland.

Leandro Trossard (Brighton):

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The Belgian winger has been monumental in attack for Brighton. Trossard already has five goals to his name this campaign, just three fewer than his total tally last season. This has been especially vital considering Welbeck's poor form, and Brighton will undoubtedly look to Trossard as their main goal threat on Friday.