Brentford seek an easy passage into the EFL Cup quarterfinals when they go up against Sheffield Wednesday in the last 16 at the Gtech Community Stadium this Tuesday. Having crawled out of their pulsating 4-3 Premier League win against Ipswich Town, Thomas Frank’s charges will now set their eyes on cup glory against their Championship visitors, who have also come from a tough win by edging out Portsmouth 2-1.
Match Preview
Thrillers are fast becoming the order of the day at the Gtech Community Stadium, as just weeks after that pulsating 4-4 against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brentford served up another belter in the visit of Ipswich. Two-nil down inside seven minutes, the Bees surged ahead 3-2, then Ipswich leveled, before Bryan Mbeumo’s cross slipped past the Ipswich goalkeeper in the last minute to seal a remarkable 4-3 Brentford win.
While much of the spotlight has fallen on Brentford’s defense, going forward they are flying, with two-goal hero Mbeumo-second only to Erling Haaland in the Premier League’s Golden Boot race-and Yoane Wissa leading an electric forward line without Ivan Toney. In their EFL Cup adventure this term they came from behind to defeat Leyton Orient 3-1 in the previous round, a fifth win in six home outings thus far this season.
That will be a fourth successive EFL Cup road trip for Sheffield Wednesday, who have survived the away hurdles so far to beat Hull City, Grimsby Town, and Blackpool to reach the fourth round. In their last cup outing, an early goal from Di’Shon Bernard sealed a narrow 1-0 win as the Owls reached the competition’s fourth round for the first time since 2015-16.
The Owls’ recent league victory over Pompey saw boss Danny Rohl mastermind a comeback to win 2-1, a result that has the Owls sitting pretty mid-table. But Wednesday’s recent away record at Brentford has been poor; they last won in West London back in 2015 as Brentford were then playing at Griffin Park.
Brentford vs. Sheffield Wednesday
Brentford EFL Cup form: WW
Brentford form (all competitions): WLDWLW
Sheffield Wednesday EFL Cup form: WWW
Sheffield Wednesday form (all competitions): WDWLDW
Team News
Brentford’s victory over Ipswich last week included a 20-minute return to action for Mathias Jensen after injury, but Kristoffer Ajer probably won’t feature due to a problem with his foot. Long-term absentees include Igor Thiago, Aaron Hickey, Gustavo Nunes, Josh Dasilva, and Rico Henry, although Henry should be back within the next couple of weeks.
Mbeumo and Wissa, just from their weekend heroics, might be rested for Kevin Schade and Fabio Carvalho to start upfront.
For Sheffield Wednesday, Akin Famewo’s early exit in their last match due to a muscle injury will likely keep him out for several weeks. Summer signing Olaf Kobacki is out with a muscular problem. Nathaniel Chalobah (muscle), Ben Hamer (finger) and Pol Valentin (suspension) are also out.
Predicted Lineups
:Brentford:
Valdimarsson; Roerslev, Mee, Van den Berg, Meghoma; Jensen, Konak, Trevitt; Carvalho, Schade, Yarmolyuk
Sheffield Wednesday:
Charles; Palmer, Bernard, Iorfa; Valery, Bannan, Charles, M. Lowe; Musaba, Windass; Smith