Match Preview
Fulham vrs Brentford
Premier League Match Day 05 25_26 at Craven Cottage
Saturday 20th September 2025, KO: 20:00
Referee:
Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
Sky Sports
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Craven Cottage will stage a West London derby between Fulham and Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday night.
Four months have passed since these two teams last butted heads in a five-goal thriller at the Gtech Community Stadium where the Cottagers claimed a 3-2 win over the Bees.
After failing to win any of their opening three Premier League matches, Fulham picked up all three points in fortunate circumstances at the expense of newly-promoted Leeds United last weekend.
The Cottagers were on course to share the spoils in largely drab encounter with the Whites at Craven Cottage until Gabriel Gudmundsson inadvertently directed an attempted headed clearance into the far corner of his own net to gift Marco Silva's men a much-needed 1-0 home victory.
Silva acknowledge that his Fulham side were “a little bit fortunate” to come out on top at the death via an own goal, but he was pleased with his player’s efforts to ‘push hard’ for a winner in the second half. The Portuguese has also urged his team to ‘create the habit’ of keeping clean sheets after registering their first of the season against Leeds.
Fulham are in fact one of just two teams - along with Arsenal - who are yet to concede from open play in the Premier League this season, with their four goals conceded thus far coming from either corners (two) or penalties (two). Meanwhile, two of their three goals scored this term have come from set pieces.
Seeking to climb from their current position of 11th in the table, Fulham completed a Premier League double over Brentford last season and they will attempt to win three league matches in a row against the Bees this weekend for just the second time, after winning their first three encounters from 1928 to 1929.
Keith Andrews has experienced a mixed start to life as Brentford boss, but many will argue that the Bees have performed better than expected considering the significant changes made to the first-team squad over the summer.
Brentford have lost both away matches in the Premier League this season, but they have collected four points from their opening two fixtures on home soil, with Fabio Carvalho netting a 93rd-minute equaliser to snatch a point in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea last weekend, having previously beaten Aston Villa 1-0 at the end of August.
The Bees celebrated another home victory against Villa on Tuesday, this time in the third round of the EFL Cup as they claimed a 4-2 penalty-shootout victory following a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes, a result that confirmed to Andrews that his players are "growing as a group".
Brentford are now preparing for Saturday’s trip to Craven Cottage where they have lost two of their three Premier League visits (W1), more than their previous 15 league trips to Fulham beforehand (W6 D8 L1), while they are now in danger of suffering back-to-back away league defeats to the Cottagers for the first time since January 1954 (four in a row).
However, Brentford will take comfort from the fact that Fulham have lost five of their last seven London derbies in the Premier League (W2), having previously enjoyed a 10-match unbeaten run against capital-based clubs.
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Fulham completed a Premier League double over Brentford last season and are looking to win three league games in a row over the Bees for the second time, after winning their first three clashes from 1928 to 1929.
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Brentford have lost two of their three Premier League visits to Craven Cottage (W1), more than their previous 15 league trips to Fulham beforehand (W6 D8 L1), while they could lose twice in a row at Fulham in the league for the first time since January 1954 (4 in a row).
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Fulham have lost five of their last seven London derby games in the Premier League (W2), having been unbeaten in their previous 10 beforehand.
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Fulham are one of just two sides (along with Arsenal) yet to concede from open play in the Premier League this season, with their goals against coming from either corners (2) or penalties (2) so far. Meanwhile, two of the Cottagers’ three goals scored this term have come from set pieces.
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No attacking player (strikers, attacking midfielders, wingers) has made more progressive carries in the Premier League this season than Fulham’s Alex Iwobi (37).
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Brentford are winless in their last three away Premier League games (D1 L2), losing both of the last two, having won seven of their nine league games on the road beforehand (D1 L1).
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Only Burnley (30) have had fewer shots than Brentford (33) in the Premier League this season, with the Bees’ average of 8.3 shots per game their lowest in any of their five campaigns in the competition.
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Brentford have played fewer line breaking passes than any other side in the Premier League this season (132), with just five of these breaking the opposition’s defensive line (also a league-low).
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Brentford’s Igor Thiago has applied more pressures in the opposition half than any other player in the Premier League this season (225).
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Source Oliver Thomas at SportsMole/BBCSports