Match Preview: Brentford v Crystal Palace
Brentford begin their 2024/25 Premier League campaign with a London derby against Crystal Palace at Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday (2pm kick-off).
Keane Lewis-Potter gave the Bees an early lead when the sides last met in December, but Palace went on to win 3-1 at Selhurst Park.
Fábio Carvalho could make his debut for the west Londoners having completed a transfer from Liverpool on Monday, while Thomas Frank confirmed that striker Ivan Toney is also contention.
Pre-match analysis
Alex Lawes, Playmaker Stats: Eagles soaring following Glasner’s appointment
The Bees have had a busy week in which the arrival of Fábio Carvalho was confirmed from Liverpool on a permanent basis, becoming their second signing of the summer transfer window after the arrival of Igor Thiago from Club Brugge.
Crystal Palace were one of the most entertaining and generally effective teams in the Premier League last season as they propelled themselves into the top half under the management of Oliver Glasner.
With a balance between an intense press and slick, patient and cohesive passing football, the Eagles performed extremely well following Glasner’s appointment.
The most impressive piece of underlying data for Palace last season was that they enjoyed an impressive expected goals difference of 3.35 with only Manchester City and Aston Villa having better records than that.
With their steady and balanced back three, Palace also performed extremely well defensively with just 12.1 shots conceded per match with only the top four from last season - Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal - allowing fewer shots than that.
So, quite simply, Crystal Palace have enjoyed one of the tightest defensive records and styles of football under Glasner, as well as being one the most effective and efficient attacking sides in the league.
Brentford, though, underperformed their expected goals somewhat last season so they will be expected to revert to the mean this season, lifting themselves away from the bottom three and the relegation places.
A tactical difference between the two sides would be that Palace perhaps rely more on individual brilliance with nine successful dribbles per game, whilst Brentford, on the other hand, have had just 6.4 dribbles per game, which was the lowest of any team in the top flight.
That would suggest that if Brentford and Thomas Frank are able to cultivate a style of football that limits the opposition’s individual talents then they will have some real joy.
Palace showed they are more than just an off the cuff group of players but they are coming up against a side that, when in form, have one of the most resolute and flexible, all-round tactical philosophies of any team in the Premier League in Brentford.
Scout Report
Dan Long, Sky Sports: Palace aiming for top-half finish despite summer of transfer speculation at Selhurst Park
Over the course of the first few months of 2023, Crystal Palace were on a hiding to nothing.
They sat 12th when Patrick Vieira was sacked on 17 March which was, on the face of it, was nothing new for a club who had only finished in the top half of the Premier League once in 13 seasons to that point.
Yet, the truth was that they had started the year with a 13-match winless run in all competitions and one of nine teams firmly embroiled in a battle to retain their place in the division for another season. Just three points separated them from Bournemouth in 18th.
Palace needed a firefighter but, fortunately for them, time was on their side. There were 10 games left, many of which pitted them against their closest rivals.
Step forward Roy Hodgson.
The former England manager had left his role at Selhurst Park 22 months earlier but had refused to rule out retirement, and managed Watford for a short spell between January and May 2022. Turning down another call from his boyhood club was out of the question.
He delivered what was asked of him - Palace picked up 18 of the last 30 points on offer and finished comfortably in 11th, 11 points clear of the relegation zone - so there was little surprise when the Premier League’s oldest-ever manager agreed to take charge for 2023/24.
“We have set ourselves the target of a top-half finish, which we believe is eminently achievable with such a fabulous group of players and the most magnificent supporters who get behind the team, week in, week out,” Hodgson said, when the news was confirmed in July 2023.
Wilfried Zaha’s departure to Galatasaray arguably hindered him from the start, though. Without their talisman, who so often dug them out of trouble, they were quickly back in the familiar surroundings of mid-table.
After a run of 10 defeats in 16 games between October and February - and shortly after an unplanned stay in hospital - Hodgson stepped down, 38 games into his second spell at the helm and after 200 in total. “It may be prudent at this time for the club to plan ahead,” he conceded.
Speculation had already begun to swell about potential replacements and, the same day, 19 February 2024, Oliver Glasner replaced him on a contract running until the end of the 2025/26 campaign. He came with solid pedigree, having won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2021/22.
There was a sense of déjà vu as Glasner had come in to finish the job, as Hodgson had done the previous year. The Austrian took 24 points from the last 39 on offer - including winning six of the last seven games - which helped Palace to 10th, their joint-highest Premier League finish in history.
Michael Olise’s departure to Bayern Munich has boosted the coffers - but will certainly hurt - while the futures of prized Eberechi Eze, Marc Guéhi and Adam Wharton - who only joined from Blackburn earlier this year - continue to feature heavily on the back pages at the time of writing.
If Glasner can keep hold of even just one of that trio and harness the quality at his disposal, he might be able to mastermind a climb to somewhere new.
In the Dugout
Oliver Glasner
Barring a short loan spell at LASK in the 2003/04 season, Oliver Glasner spent his entire 19-year playing career at SV Ried in his native Austria, from 1992 to 2011, where he holds the record for the most appearances made for the club with 571 in all competitions.
During his time at SV Ried, he won the Austria Cup in 1998 and 2011, as well as helping the club to achieve promotion to the Austrian Bundesliga in 1994/95 and a decade later in 2004/05.
In August 2011, he suffered a brain haemorrhage and, after an operation, was advised to end his playing career at the age of 36.
After his enforced retirement, Glasner spent two years as assistant to Roger Schmidt - now in charge at Benfica - at Red Bull Salzburg.
When Schmidt later left for Bayer Leverkusen, Glasner made his return to SV Ried. During his one and only season in charge, the club secured a fourth-straight sixth-place finish.
Next was a return to LASK. Glasner spent four seasons at Raiffeisen Arena and enjoyed plenty of success.
The club finished second in the second tier in his first season and were promoted as champions in 2016/17. Back in the top flight, they then finished fourth, before finishing second in 2018/19 - their highest finish since winning the Staatsliga in 1965.
Glasner then moved across the border to Wolfsburg in July 2019, where he found reasonable success and, two years later, joined Eintracht Frankfurt.
He could not guide the German club to any higher than seventh in his two seasons in charge, though he did mastermind the Europa League triumph in 2021/22, where Frankfurt beat Barcelona, West Ham and Rangers on their way to glory.
He departed Frankfurt in the summer of 2023 and joined Crystal Palace as Roy Hodgson's successor seven months later.
The Gameplan
With Edmund Brack, Crystal Palace reporter for South London Press
Edmund Brack, Crystal Palace reporter for South London Press, explains how Oliver Glasner is likely to set up his side at the Gtech on Sunday:
“It is a three or a five at the back, depending on whether they are attacking or defending.
“It is a 3-4-2-1, so the wing-backs - likely Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Muñoz - will push forward to go into midfield.
“Then there are two attacking midfielders behind the striker, which is likely to be Daichi Kamada and Eberechi Eze behind Jean-Philippe Mateta.
“The squad will be strong, and Palace will be looking to get off to a winning start.”
Read our full interview with Edmund Brack here.
Team news
Frank: Toney 'sharp and available' for Premier League opener
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has given an update on his Bees squad, detailing who is available for the first Premier League game of the season against Crystal Palace.
On Ivan Toney, Frank said: "The fresh news is that he trained out there with a big smile on his face - he looks sharp, with a good attitude, and is available for Sunday."
On other players, the Bees boss added: "Ben Mee and Keane Lewis-Potter will be available for selection on Sunday, which is a very good thing.
“Fábio Carvalho will be available for the team and for the squad. He has looked good in training.
"He is a very exciting player - I like the way he is on the half-turn, the way he drives with the ball, the way he sets up other players, the way he can also score goals. I think he has a lot of quality."
Match Officials
Sam Barrott
Referee: Sam Barrott
Assistants: Neil Davies and Wade Smith
Fourth official: Tim Robinson
VAR: Peter Bankes
Sam Barrott refereed his first Premier League game last season – Fulham’s 3-1 victory over Sheffield United – having previously worked in the National League and the EFL.
The West Riding based official refereed 43 games across all competitions during the 2023/24 campaign, showing 133 yellow cards and three reds.
Last time out
Brentford 4 Wolfsburg 4
Brentford and Wolfsburg shared eight goals in a pulsating pre-season friendly at the Gtech.
Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, Mathias Jensen and Kevin Schade were on target for the Bees.