The Unsung Heroes of the Premier League

Brentford vs Fulham

With little over three weeks of the Premier League season remaining, there may be contests approaching which have a very ‘end of term’ feel about them.

The type of clashes when one, or in some cases, both sides have nothing to play for and it really shows.

Finishing as high as possible may mean a lot to chairmen and owners as it can be mean a few extra million pounds being ploughed into club coffers.

Yet, despite professional pride, the difference between finishing say, in 12^th and 13^th spot, may not mean that much for too many players.

So, what Premier League highlights can we reasonably expect Brentford and Fulham to deliver this weekend?

Talking Points

Well for a start, Fulham want to climb above 13^th position and are only three points away from climbing into the top half of the table.

A second successive 10^th place finish would again point to the fine work Marco Silva is undertaking at Craven Cottage.

One of his tasks has been to find a replacement for the goals of Aleksandar Mitrovic who spearheaded so much that was positive about them last term.

In recent months, the emergence of Rodrigo Muniz has helped fill the void and he again found the net in last weekend’s 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace.

The budding Brazilian is one of the hottest commodities in the Premier League of late and has become the focal point for Silva’s attack.

Mitrovic’s departure to Saudi Arabia last summer opened opportunities for Muniz to have proper playing time with Silva entrusting him, Raul Jimenez, and Carlos Vinicius as Fulham’s main strikers.

Following the departure of Mitrovic, Fulham naturally struggled to maintain the form of last season but there has now been an upturn in fortune, led by Muniz, the Premier League Player of the Month of March and a player who has become the club’s leading scorer with 10 goals and one assist – the majority since the turn of the year.

There are similarities between Fulham and Brentford as Thomas Frank’s men have found it difficult to repeat their 2022-23 form, most notably without a key striker.

Brentford have not set an asking price for Ivan Toney amid reports of him being a target for top 6 clubs

In the Bees’ case, the absence of Ivan Toney for the best part of six months was a major blow but, like Fulham, Brentford have managed to overcome adversity.

Again on a limited budget, Frank has worked wonders since taking charge in 2018.

Again, they are safe with three games to go.

Last season, the west Londoners emphatically answered any questions about second season syndrome with an inaugural top-half finish, never dropping below 11th place in the table to successfully build on a 13th place in their maiden campaign.

The moral of this story then is, while in many ways there’s little to play for this weekend for Messrs Frank or Silva, the fact that there isn’t, is arguably an even greater achievement.

History

With 23 Fulham victories to 25 Brentford triumphs, along with another 17 draws, these teams have been closely matched and enjoyed some real ding-dongs historically.

It was December 1928 when they first met in the former Division Three South, a 1-1 draw on that occasion.

They locked horns on a further seven occasions in that league before another 1-1 draw in Division Two in 1933, that time at Craven Cottage.

Although the late 1980s and 90s saw clashes in the Sherpa Vans Trophy, Leyland DAF Cup and Auto Windscreens Shield (the cup, in various guises, for the teams in the third and fourth tiers of league football), they had never met in the top flight until August 2022 – a 3-2 home Fulham win when Bobby Decordova-Reid, João Palhinha and Mitrovic, in the final minute, sealed the points after Christian Norgaard and Ivan Toney had drawn the Bees level from a 2-0 deficit.

Since then, Brentford have beaten them twice.

In the corresponding fixture last season, they reversed that scoreline with Ethan Pinnock, Toney (penalty) and Mathias Jensen their marksmen and Manor Solomon and Carlos Vinícius the Fulham goal-getters.

Thomas Frank’s side won impressively at the Thames earlier this season with Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo the scorers in a 3-0 win against their 10-man hosts.

Arguably their most important meeting was the Championship Play-Off Final of 2020, won 2-1 by Fulham thanks to an extra-time double from Joe Bryan.