On Saturday afternoon, Brentford host Rotherham at Griffin Park in the Championship, as both teams look to kick-off their campaign with a victory.
Brentford finished ninth-place in the Championship table last season, just six points short of the play-off spots. An inconsistent run of form towards the ends of their league campaign last season ended their hopes of making the play-offs.
Despite the aforementioned inconsistent run of form, the Bees lost just one of their previous nine games in the second tier. The home side’s games towards the end of last season were low scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in eight of their last nine matches.
Brentford have a relatively strong recent home record in the Championship, as the Bees have lost just two of their last 24 matches on home soil. Their latest home games in the Championship have been low scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in four of their last five games on home soil.
The Bees have a good recent record against Rotherham in the Championship having won the last three meetings between the pair.
Rotherham gained promotion from League One last season via the play-offs. The Yorkshire side spent just one season in the third tier.
The visitor’s previous record in the Championship explains why they suffered relegation from the second tier, as they won just one of their last 20 outings while suffering 15 defeats in the process.
Rotherham’s poor away form also played a big part in their relegation in their last stint in the second tier, as they failed to win in 25 games on their travels, suffering 22 defeats. They will have to remedy that away form to have a chance of avoiding the drop this season.
Forebet predicts that Brentford will record a victory in a low scoring encounter to make it an unhappy return to the second tier for the visitors.