A triumphant 3-2 win away from home at St Andrews against Birmingham City in last weekend’s west midlands derby saw West Brom take the spoils and also return to the top of the Championship which was also helped by Cardiff City holding Leeds United to a 3-3 draw at Elland Road.
The win over Birmingham became West Brom’s seventh win in eight matches in the Championship and they not only hold a 2-point lead over rivals, Leeds United, but The Baggies also hold an important 12-point cushion above 3rd placed Preston North End ahead of this weekend’s action.
West Brom’s successful season to date in the second tier has been built around a solid and 10-match unbeaten run on home turf at The Hawthorns where the hosts have won 6 and drawn 4 so far this term, and includes winning their last 3 home matches on the trot with wins over Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol City and Swansea City.
The hosts have also been in fine goalscoring form at home of late too as The Baggies have scored a total of 11 goals in these last 3 wins.
Brentford are quickly becoming the surprise package in this season’s Championship as The Bees sit in 4th place and along with consistently punching above their weight in this second tier, the visitors have become genuine challengers for a play-off spot so far this term.
Brentford’s consistent and solid form at their Griffin Park ground is well documented and overall results have been pretty impressive so far in this campaign which includes winning 3 of their last matches with wins against Luton Town 7-0, Cardiff City 2-1 and Fulham 1-0, but it’s also been Brentford’s form on the road that has been a revelation.
Although they’ve split their results on the road with 5 wins and 6 defeats, Brentford have picked up wins at Middlesbrough, Barnsley, Swansea City, QPR and Wigan Athletic, so they should be respected here.
However, Brentford have lost their last two away matches on the trot at Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday and this could be the key difference between the two teams heading into this important top four clash on Saturday.
In addition, West Brom have held the upper hand in previous exchanges, winning 4 of the last 5 encounters against The Bees.