2026-2027 Premier League: Brentford vs. Chelsea, Probable Lineups

Matchday 5 kicks off in the English Premier League as well, with the Brentford Community Stadium serving as the setting for one of the many London derbies in England’s top flight: Brentford vs. Chelsea. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. local time, 9 p.m. in Italy: the match will be officiated by referee Andy Madley, who hails from the north of the country, specifically Huddersfield.

Brentford has been one of the surprise teams so far this season: the squad coached by Keith Andrews has yet to lose a single game—not even in a friendly—and, despite drawing its last three league matches, is coming off a qualification to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, thanks to a 2-1 win at Reading, with goals from Callum Wilson and Fabio Carvalho, before Paudie O’Connor’s consolation goal. Their only Premiership win this season also came against another London team: a 3-0 victory over Tottenham on opening day.

Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea, despite having plenty of talent on the field, has yet to find the right balance: this is evident in their last two Premier League matches, in which the Blues lost 2-1 to Arsenal and drew 2-2 with newly promoted Hull City. Incidentally, the scorer of the equalizer, Joao Pedro, will be missing against Bradford: the Brazilian has suffered a knee injury and, barring a miraculous recovery, will not be able to take the field in Friday night’s match. Danny Welbeck will take his place.

Probable Lineups

BRENTFORD (4-2-3-1): Kelleher; Kayode, Schuster, Ajer, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Sangare; Schade, Yarmolyuk, Anthony; Thiago. Coach: Andrews.

CHELSEA (3-4-3): Martinez; Fofana, Lacroix, Colwill; Neto, Lavia, James, Chavarria; Palmer, Welbeck, Rogers. Coach: Alonso.