Well, here we are! A summer full of sport is over and we are back for yet another Premier League campaign as the Eagles kick off at Brentford hoping to pick up from where they left off.
MATCH INFORMATION
- 2pm – 18 August 2024
- Gtech Community Stadium, Lionel Road South, Brentford TW8 0RU
PREVIOUS MEETING
26/08/2023 – The Eagles returned from the short trip across London with a well earned point in their back pocket thanks to a rare goal from Danish defender Joachim Andersen who levelled things up after the hosts took an early lead courtesy of Kevin Schade.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Joachim Anderson (8.9)
MATCH OFFICIALS
| Referee | Sam Barrott |
| Assistant | Neil Davies |
| Assistant | Wade Smith |
| Fourth Official | Tim Robinson |
| VAR | Peter Bankes |
| Assistant VAR | Eddie Smart |
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Matheus Franca is not available due a rib injury. Chris Richards has been passed fit after limping off against Nantes, Cheick Doucoure will face a late fitness test after missing much of last season with a serious injury.
BRENTFORD – Josh Dasilva and Igor Thiago are both ruled out because of knee injuries. Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry are both to be assessed.
DISCIPLINARY RECORD
This is the section of our match preview that highlights those that have not been the best of friends with match officials as the season goes on. Of course, they all begin with a clean slate, but we will start to see those that will be heading for a ban or two as the campaign progresses.
RED CARDS – None
YELLOW CARDS – None
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
| 30/12/2023 | Palace | 3-1 | Brentford |
| 26/08/2023 | Brentford | 1-1 | Palace |
| 18/02/2023 | Brentford | 1-1 | Palace |
| 30/08/2022 | Palace | 1-1 | Brentford |
| 12/02/2022 | Brentford | 0-0 | Palace |
Last FIVE results for Palace:
| 11/08/2024 | Palace | 1-1 | Nantes |
| 04/08/2024 | Palace | 3-1 | West Ham United |
| 01/08/2024 | Palace | 3-1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 27/07/2024 | Crawley Town | 3-6 | Palace |
| 19/07/2024 | Palace | 1-1 | Charlton Athletic |
Last FIVE results for Brentford;
| 09/08/2024 | Brentford | 4-4 | Wolfsburg |
| 03/08/2024 | Watford | 1-1 | Brentford |
| 30/07/2024 | Estrela | 3-1 | Brentford |
| 25/07/2024 | Benfica | 1-1 | Brentford |
| 20/07/2024 | AFC Wimbledon | 2-5 | Brentford |
LEAGUE POSITION
The Eagles kick off the season in 7th with 0 points from 0 games played, while Brentford start in 4th with 0 points from the same amount of games….. Yes, we are just filling gaps for now!
RECORD AGAINST BRENTFORD
| Played | 44 |
| Won | 18 |
| Drawn | 12 |
| Lost | 14 |
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
This is the section of our match preview where we list two players from each side that are top of the ratings by our friends over at Who Scored. Obviously, there are no ratings to share at the moment but that will soon change!
ONE TO WATCH
IVAN TONEY
FORMER CLUBS – Northampton Town, Newcastle United, Barnsley (loan), Shrewsbury Town (loan), Scunthorpe United (loan), Wigan Athletic (loan), Peterborough United
It is expected that the England international will line up against Palace in the opening game after much speculation across the summer on where his future may be, but the Bees have managed to retain his services for the moment even though there is still some time until the transfer deadline comes to a close.
KEY CLASH
CHEICK DOUCOURE v CHRISTIAN NORGAARD
The return of the Mali international (should he start this opening fixture) will be like a new signing after missing much of last season due to injury. In fact, it is clear that he has become a forgotten man but there was a reason why Liverpool were sniffing around before the midfielder succumbed to injury. He will likely be up against the combative Danish international who featured for his country at the Euros.
PRE-MATCH STATS
This is the section of our match preview where we keep a tally on the statistics for Palace players as the campaign continues and how they compare to other Premier League players.
| Goals | 0 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Passes | 0 |
| Tackles | 0 |
| Touches | 0 |
| Shots | 0 |
| Fouls | 0 |
| Dispossessed | 0 |
| Saves | 0 |
| Clearances | 0 |
| Big Chances Missed | 0 |
PRE-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE
On the squad’s fitness: “All players are fit and available other than Matheus Franca. After his injury, he trained with us, and unfortunately he fractured his rib again so he will be out for the next weeks.”
On Marc Guehi, who is linked with a move to Newcastle United: “Marc trained today and we talked together. I’ve had no other information. We plan with Marc. He’s our player and our captain, I can’t tell you anything else.”
On summer signing Daichi Kamada: “We were looking for which players could help us and Daichi is a player who is creative and who can score goals, like he showed against Nantes. He knows how we want to play, so it made it a little bit easier to integrate him in the way of playing. From the first day, he understood it, because we worked together for two years.”
Glasner said Adam Wharton’s summer break was too short, adding: “He’s a great guy. He’s a great character. He’s working hard in training. He’s one of the guys who is not on his highest fitness level but now he’s up again, and he’s a fantastic player. He shows it every day in training.”
On Sunday’s opponents: “I know it’s a very good, well organised team. Thomas Frank is a great manager. They have clear structure in the game, very variable in building up. They switch from a back four to a back three with five players high, playing very quick in behind and a lot of runs. This is what we all know about Brentford. But again, we feel ready there to extend the streak.”
Glasner says he is “very happy” with the state of his squad: “It was a tricky pre-season because we had many players with their national teams This week was the first week the squad was complete so we have the players on different fitness levels. But we have a great mood on the pitch, we have a great mood in the dressing room and I’m very confident we are ready for the start.”
THE NUMBERS
5 of the 9 draws in this fixture have come in the 6 Premier League meetings.
Brentford are winless against Palace in 7 league games (D5, L2). Their last victory was 2-1 in 1963.
The Eagles haven’t won away at their west London counterparts since Christmas Day 1957 (D5, L7).
Palace equalled both their highest Premier League points tally (49) and highest finish (10th) last season.
Palace won 6 and drew 1 of their final 7 league games of 2023-24.
The Eagles beat Sheffield United 1-0 in the opening game last season. They can win back-to-back opening day fixtures for the first time since 2008.
Jean-Phillipe Mateta scored 13 Premier League goals after Oliver Glasner took over in February. No player netted more in that time.
TEB PREDICTION
It is always rather difficult to make a prediction on the opening game of the season, especially where Palace are away from home. However, with all the excitement after how the Eagles ended the previous campaign, the club is on a high and Oliver Glasner will be very keen to keep that going for as long as possible. In contrast, the hosts were a disappointment last season as will be keen to get off to a good start. We are going for the safe prediction of a point a piece.
FINAL SCORE: 1-1
