- Brentford are unbeaten in 10 Premier League matches
- Crystal Palace have not won any of their 13 meetings with top-half teams this season 
- Recommended bet: Brentford to win and over 2.5 goals

After correctly predicting Borussia Dortmund would get the better of Chelsea in the Champions League during the week, Dan Sait is back to cast his eye over Brentford's Premier League clash with Crystal Palace this weekend.

Brentford’s performance in their draw at Arsenal last weekend went under the radar somewhat, with a poor VAR decision dominating the headlines when the display of Thomas Frank’s men should have been the main talking point.

The Bees were fortunate to be allowed an offside equaliser in north London, but more than earned their luck with a spirited and tactically intelligent performance that saw them hit the woodwork and have far the better chances in the first half.

That impressive draw at Arsenal extended the Bees’ unbeaten Premier League run to 10 and Frank will now be targeting maximum points in a run of winnable matches than could put his team right in the mix for the European places.

Crystal Palace’s season has been going the other way, with a bright start to 2022-23 fizzling out in worrying fashion for Patrick Vieira’s team.

A trip to in-form Brentford is the last thing that the Eagles will have wanted, as they look nervously at the number of improving relegation strugglers catching up with them.

Team news

Brentford midfielder Frank Onyeka has returned to training after a hamstring injury and should be available, but centre-back Pontus Jansson is unlikely to recover from his own hamstring problem for this match.

Backup Bees goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha is out with an ankle injury.

Crystal Palace’s star man Wilfried Zaha has returned to training but may not yet be ready to feature and full-back Joel Ward has been ruled out with a calf complaint.

Defender Nathan Ferguson remains out with an Achilles problem and midfielder Will Hughes is a major doubt.

Centre-backs Joachim Andersen and Chris Richards are both rated 50/50 to return to the first-team squad after calf and back injuries respectively.

The stats

Crystal Palace have a dreadful record against teams in the top half of the Premier League, failing to win any of 13 such matches despite eight of those coming at Selhurst Park.

In just five road trips to top-half opponents, Palace have lost three times — 4-2 to Manchester City, 2-1 to Manchester United and 1-0 at Chelsea — and have drawn twice — 0-0 at Newcastle and 1-1 at Liverpool.

However, the Eagles were fortunate to get a point in both of those away draws as Liverpool compiled an expected goals tally of 2.0 to Palace’s 1.0, while Newcastle racked up a whopping xG rating of 2.8 and were denied by both the woodwork and a dreadful refereeing decision.

Brentford have lost only one of their 11 Premier League home games this season — against Arsenal — and were arguably unlucky in all four draws, largely dominating against each of Tottenham, Wolves and Everton and also arguably deserving all three points against Chelsea.

Home wins over Manchester United, Brighton and Liverpool as well as Bournemouth and Southampton are a fairer measure of the quality of Frank’s team in west London.

Prediction

Brentford have the quality, cohesion and form to see off a struggling Crystal Palace side and it would be a serious shock to see anything other than a home win at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

Frank’s men impressed last season upon their promotion to the Premier League and have gone up another level this term.

Positive results claimed in five of seven meetings with the top six — as well as taking four points off Liverpool and Chelsea — show that the Bees belong among the elite and they seem to have leapfrogged Palace in the Premier League hierarchy.

Vieira’s team is better than their run of six successive Premier League matches without victory suggests — all six games have been against tough opponents — but a trip to Brentford is just as tricky for his confidence-shorn side.

Over 2.5 goals could be a sensible addition to Bet Builder selections given Brentford’s high-octane style and Palace’s threat on the counter-attack.

Backing the home win and over 2.5 goals certainly looks the best bet, with Frank’s impressive Brentford side appearing well placed to maintain their strong form.

Back Brentford to win and over 2.5 goals, available at 11/5 with LiveScore Bet.

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