Analysis, team news, officials and statistics. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Brentford’s Carabao Cup game against Gillingham.
Brentford welcome Gillingham to the Gtech Community on Tuesday night for a Carabao Cup third round tie.
The Gills are looking to equal their best-ever run in the EFL Cup by reaching the fourth round for the first time since 1996, while the Bees have made the last 16 in each of the last two seasons.
The Opposition
Gillingham
Tuesday's Carabao Cup tie gives Gillingham respite from what has been a tough start to life back in Sky Bet League Two.
The Gills were relegated on goal difference from Sky Bet League One on the final day of last season and look to have carried that hangover well into this campaign. Neil Harris’ side head to West London 20th in the fourth tier, just a point clear of the drop zone.
It has been a lack of goalscoring threat that has plagued Gillingham’s season so far; 16 league matches have brought just six goals.
The Kent side haven’t scored multiple goals in a league game yet this campaign and have registered just two goals in eight winless away League Two games.
Defensively, Gillingham have been strong. The Gills have conceded 17 goals in 16 league matches, two fewer than Northampton Town in third. They’ve also only lost one more game (seven) than Barrow in fourth, but their two wins are matched only by the division’s bottom two.
Without a win in their last seven in all competitions, Gillingham were held to a 1-1 draw by AFC Fylde in the first round of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday.
In the Carabao Cup, Gillingham have seen off AFC Wimbledon and Exeter City thus far. Injury-time goals from Mikael Mandron and Jordan Green took them past Wimbledon in the first round before a penalty shootout victory at home to Exeter City last time out.
Mandron is their joint top scorer in all competitions with three alongside Lewis Walker, all of whose goals have come in the EFL Trophy.
Former Brentford B midfielder Dominic Jefferies has made ten appearances for the Gills since joining in the summer, while we’ve also come up against the likes of Glenn Morris, Max Ehmer, Shaun Williams and Scott Kashket in recent years.
The Gameplan
With Kent Online’s Luke Cawdell
In Hot off the Press, Kent Online’s Luke Cawdell takes us inside the Gillingham camp: “Harris has not got a formation that he has stuck to or a team that he has stuck to, so he could play anything, to be honest. When he first took over, he went to three at the back, just to shore up the defence, which worked for him because he was not sure that a 4-4-2 could be played as he was worried about the possibility of getting run over by other teams. I suppose that if he wants to keep it fairly tight, he might play the wing-backs, which he has done a fair few times this season. He could go for a traditional 4-4-2, though, and play the wingers. He has literally tried everything to get this team going; it is a bit of a guessing game.”
Team News
Thomas Frank's pre-match press conference
Christian Nørgaard will start for Brentford - his first action since August.
Pontus Jansson (hamstring), Kristoffer Ajer (knee), Shandon Baptiste (muscle), Thomas Strakosha, Aaron Hickey (both ankle) and Charlie Goode (knee) are all sidelined with Vitaly Janelt also doubtful.
For Gillingham, Shaun Williams, attacking midfielder Ben Reeves and wide man Jordan Green all missed their 1-1 draw against AFC Fylde at the weekend.
The Boss
Neil Harris
Neil Harris is looking to bring success back to Gillingham as manager, 16 years after he enjoyed a season-long loan spell in Kent as a player.
Harris is best known for his long association with Millwall as a player and manager. The striker spent ten years with the Lions over two spells. He scored 138 goals in all competitions, beating the previous club record held by Teddy Sheringham.
Harris battled and beat testicular cancer during a playing career that also took him to Cardiff City, Nottingham Forest, Gillingham and Southend United.
Stepping into the dugout, he won many admirers for the job he did on a limited budget at Millwall, establishing the Lions back in the second tier following promotion in 2017.
However, after four-and-a-half years in charge, Harris felt he had reached the end of his shelf-life at the Den, resigning in October 2019.
Six weeks later he took over at Cardiff City, taking the Bluebirds to the Play-Off semi-final during his first campaign in charge. A poor run of form saw Harris sacked in January 2021 with Cardiff 15th in the table.
The 45-year-old took over at Gillingham in January this year but was unable to prevent their relegation from League One, the Gills going down on goal difference on the final day of the campaign following a six-game winless run.
Match Officials
Referee: Tim Robinson
Assistants: Graham Kane and Bhupinder Gill
Fourth official: Carl Brook
Brentford are still Tim Robinson’s most frequently refereed team, despite going nearly 18 months without a game under the West Sussex official.
Tuesday night will be the 24th time that Robinson has taken charge of the Brentford game. Of those previous matches, the Bees have won ten, drawn six and lost seven.
Robinson’s last two Brentford games were high-profile Sky Bet Championship affairs. He took charge of our 1-0 defeat to Norwich City in March 2021 before also overseeing our defeat by the same scoreline against AFC Bournemouth in the first leg of that season’s Play-Offs.
Gillingham 22/23
182 fouls – 12th in Sky Bet League Two
27 yellow cards – 13th in Sky Bet League Two
1 red card – 10th in Sky Bet League Two