Norwich City's search for their first win of the 2021-22 Premier League season will continue on Saturday afternoon when they make the trip to West London to take on Brentford.
The Canaries remain rock bottom of the table, having picked up just two points from their opening 10 matches, while Brentford sit 12th with 12 points to show from their first 10 games of the season.
Match preview
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All things considered, Brentford will be delighted with their start to the 2021-22 Premier League season, having won three, drawn three and lost four of their 10 matches to collect 12 points, which has left them in 12th position in the table, just three points off ninth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
As predicted, the Bees have been a good watch this season, and they also have a EFL Cup quarter-final contest with Chelsea to look forward to in December, having beaten Stoke City 2-1 in the last round on October 27.
Thomas Frank's side are currently on a three-game losing run in the Premier League, though, having been beaten by Chelsea, Leicester City and Burnley since overcoming West Ham United at the start of October.
Last weekend, Brentford found themselves three goals behind in the first half against Burnley and could only manage a late consolation from Saman Ghoddos on what was a tough afternoon for the newly-promoted side.
The Bees will view this match as the ideal opportunity to return to winning ways, but they have not actually beaten Norwich since December 2017, losing three of their last five meetings, including a 1-0 defeat when the pair last locked horns at Carrow Road towards the end of last season.
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Norwich are not in a terminal position in the Premier League, as there is still an awful lot of football to be played, but there is no getting away from the fact that it has been a tough start to the season for the club.
A record of zero wins, two draws and eight defeats from 10 matches has brought them just two points and left them bottom of the table, already eight points from the safety of 17th position. What's more, they have scored just three times and conceded 25, which are both the worst records in the division.
The Canaries picked up back-to-back draws against Burnley and Brighton either side of the October international break but then conceded seven at Chelsea before losing at home to Leeds United last weekend, with Rodrigo's 60th-minute effort proving to be the difference between the two sides.
Norwich have not been able to secure back-to-back seasons of top-flight football since 2012-13 and 2013-14, having dropped straight back into the Championship following their last two promotions, and it is difficult to imagine that pattern being broken this term.
Head coach Daniel Farke is coming under increasing pressure at Carrow Road, but a victory on Saturday afternoon could certainly act as a springboard for the remainder of the season.
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Team News
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Brentford boss Frank revealed during Thursday's press conference that Bryan Mbeumo, who was an unused substitute against Burnley due to a tight hamstring, should be fit to start on Saturday.
Kristoffer Ajer is out "for a fair amount of weeks" with a hamstring problem, though, while Yoane Wissa, Mads Sorensen, David Raya, Shandon Baptiste and Josh Dasilva remain unavailable for selection.
Ghoddos and Vitaly Janelt both featured off the bench in the clash with Burnley, and the pair are now pushing to be involved in the home side's starting XI this weekend.
As for Norwich, Christoph Zimmermann remains unavailable for selection following ankle surgery, while Sam Byram and Todd Cantwell are unlikely to be involved in the squad.
Ben Gibson is available after serving a suspension last time out, but Farke could ultimately decide to stick with a back four, meaning that the defender could start on the bench.
Josh Sargent is again likely to play alongside Teemu Pukki in the final third of the field, while Milot Rashica and Kieran Dowell should retain their spots in the wide areas for the Canaries.
On-loan Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour has struggled to make his mark at Carrow Road this season and is again expected to be on the bench alongside on-loan Manchester United defender Brandon Williams.
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Jorgensen, Jansson, Pinnock; Canos, Janelt, Norgaard, Ghoddos, Henry; Toney, Mbeumo
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Aarons, Kabak, Hanley, Omobamidele; Dowell, Lees-Melou, McLean, Rashica; Pukki, Sargent
We say: Brentford 2-1 Norwich City
Norwich can take confidence from Brentford's recent issues, but the Canaries are just such a difficult side to back considering their struggles this season. We are actually expecting this to be a relatively tight match in West London but have backed Brentford to return to winning ways ahead of the international break.
Top tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brentford win with a probability of 51.41%. A draw had a probability of 25.7% and a win for Norwich City had a probability of 22.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brentford win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.99%) and 2-1 (9.33%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.12%), while for a Norwich City win it was 0-1 (7.88%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 5.7% likelihood.
