Forest are playing an FA Cup replay tonight, the Bees played last night, that gives a slight advantage to the hosts, but both will be giving priority to the league fixture.

 

The visitors have stepped up under new head coach Nuno Espirito Santo and won their last two league games. However, they are missing six players due to ACN call ups and four of those played (three started) in the debut away win for Nuno and all defensively and they are hindered significantly at the back and are anyway, that win aside, poor travellers, with a dire 3-7-19 record and 21-64 goals difference on the road since promotion.

 

Brentford have been hard hit this season by injury and long term suspension and are now winless in seven, but they have not lost inside 90 minutes in the last two and played pretty well in those and created a lot of chances in their last 220 minutes on the pitch and there is at long last some hope on the horizon. It looks like they have signed an experienced left back, after playing most of this campaign with someone out of position in that role, with Sergio Reguilon set to sign until the end of the season later today. This means they will be able to start on Saturday with pretty much everyone in their natural position and in their preferred ( against non Big 6 opposition) 4-3-3 formation. They are still missing a lot of players Norgaard, Henry, Mbeumo, Wissa, Schade, Ghoddos, Hickey, Onyeka etc of whom 4-5 would start, but it is a massive improvement and the four highlighted should all be back in three weeks time. For this weekend the big news and what the media will be wetting themselves (sorry) over is the return of Ivan Toney after his eight month (well documented) suspension. He has been able to train for the last four months and playing and scoring in behind closed door games and as good to go as you can be, without full competitive match fitness. Toney should start in a three up top with Josh DaSilva and Keane Lewis Potter either side and those two like to run at defences and will create problems for the depleted Forest backline. Josh was on the verge of a full England call up before missing much of the last three years, but is finally fit again, he only recently turned 25yo and super talented (Christian Eriksen raved about how good DaSilva was whilst at the club) and will be hungry to make up for lost time.

 

I do not know if Toney will be staying, everyone seems to think so and Brentford should have signed a replacement by now if he was going, but I do still wonder if one of the Big Six (by which I mean Arsenal or Chelsea) will test the Bees resolve in the next fortnight. It is the Brentford model to sell at top price and Toney did not take on a team of new agents to stay at TW8, but those are the thoughts of the cynic in me and will, anyway, not influence anything this weekend as and interested parties will want to see his form upon his return and IT will want to impress with Sky at Lionel Road and so much focus on him.