Following back-to-back away fixtures and the October international break, Brentford return to Gtech Community Stadium for the first time in more than three weeks on Saturday.
Thomas Frank’s side are 15th in the Premier League table having taken seven points from eight games, while visitors Burnley are three places and three points worse off.
The match kicks off at 3pm and will not be televised live in the UK. Head to our match centre for minute-by-minute updates.
Pre-match Analysis
Alex Lawes, Playmaker Stats: Brentford’s aerial prowess could prove key against Burnley
After switching from Burnley to Brentford in the summer of 2022, former Clarets captain Ben Mee described his new head coach Thomas Frank as ‘special’ and outlined how interesting it was to learn a new style of football under the Dane in west London.
What is interesting now is how the style of football Mee played during his time at Turf Moor has rapidly changed over recent seasons.
In their 2021/22 relegation season in the Premier League, Burnley averaged the joint-lowest possession (39 per cent) in the division.
However, the arrival of Vincent Kompany turned those stats on their head and, implementing a far more progressive and proactive style under the Belgian, Burnley won the Championship enjoying 64.6 per cent of the ball on average.
Now back in the top flight, Burnley average 48.6 per cent possession so far this season, as the Clarets look to establish themselves in the big time, despite a relative shortage of resources and experience.
Burnley may be a very different side to the one relegated in 2022, but there remains an issue with potency and creation in attacking areas. For example, the Clarets averaged 10.7 shots per game a couple of seasons ago and, despite the major evolution in their style between both boxes, they average just 10.6 this season.
In many ways, Brentford have offered a blueprint for how to be effective without the ball since the Bees' promotion to the Premier League, Frank's side averaging 43.3 per cent of the ball last year - the fifth-lowest possession share in the division.
Brentford's pragmatism and adaptability has made them difficult to beat, and that trait remains - the Bees having drawn more games (4) than any team in the Premier League so far this season.
However, wins have been hard to come by and Brentford's impressive ability from set-pieces and their ability to be direct in open play could be key against Burnley.
No team scored more Premier League goals from dead-balls, including penalties, than the Bees (23) last season and they also averaged 17.6 successful aerial duels in offensive areas – the best rate in the entire league.
Brentford's prowess in the air is clearly a strength they will look to utilise against a Burnley side that conceded nearly 30 per cent of their goals from set-pieces last season. This time around, the Clarets have already conceded three goals from set-pieces in eight Premier League games, while Brentford have had more shots per game from offensive set-pieces (5.3) than any team in the division.
Both sides have managed just a single victory apiece this season but, on the face of it, there appears to be more to come from both clubs.
While Burnley look to fine-tune the methodology that brought them such success in the Championship, Brentford are adding a more possession-based string to their bow - and Saturday's clash will help both sides gauge their progress this season.
Scout Report
Burnley maintain principles following Premier League promotion
Relegation from the Premier League often brings about change. Things do not go to plan in the top flight, so a hard reset is often the answer and, even then, achieving the desired collective ambition is nowhere near guaranteed – just ask Stoke City fans.
Despite a few highs that brought ultimately false hope, Burnley went down pretty miserably in May 2022, with the third-lowest points total they had registered in any of their eight seasons in the division.
Managerial stalwart Sean Dyche had departed by this point, so, regardless, the dawning of a new era was imminent.
In June, the latest chapter in the Clarets’ long history began, when Vincent Kompany was named as the club’s new manager. It seemed to be quite the coup, given the Belgian – a four-time Premier League-winning captain with Manchester City – had just steered Anderlecht to third place in the Jupiler Pro League and a place in the Europa Conference League.
Kompany revealed he had received other offers, but he was enticed by the potential at Turf Moor.
“I see a plan and I see good people,” he said. “I want to work with people that are already at Burnley, I’m allowed to bring good people with me as well. Together, we don’t have to change everything. I’ve chosen this project because I know that, after a difficult start, will come an incredible future.”
Kompany was a man of his word. When the Championship season got underway, it was clear the days of a 4-4-2 formation and long-ball football, which had served Dyche so well previously, were gone. In came an exciting brand of football that had passing and possession at its very core.
The drastic rebrand was in place, and any fans worried Burnley would not be able to bounce back at the first time of asking last season, in hindsight, need not have wasted their energy.
It took two months or so to iron out all the creases, but by the end of October last year, they climbed to the top of the division and never dropped away, becoming the first team to break the 100-point barrier in nine years on their way to the title.
There was another reset once promotion was confirmed, with Kompany adding 13 players to his squad on a permanent basis and two on loan. All bar two of the 15 were under the age of 25, keeping youth at the forefront of his approach.
They were not seen as prime contenders for relegation before the season got going, with much of the focus on fellow newly promoted sides Sheffield United and Luton Town. But their results so far have done nothing to steer them away from the bottom three, where they have been since the start.
In their defence, the opening fixtures at home could hardly have been less favourable. Kompany’s men have played Manchester City, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Chelsea at Turf Moor already and lost each game, scoring just four goals and conceding 16. They have had to adapt their free-flowing style of play in order to try and compete a level above again.
“I wish there was a magic wand to solve everything, but it’s a lot of work on the training ground to get the basics right,” the Clarets boss said after the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea prior to the October international break.
Fortunately for him, there has been more luck in away games, which has ensured the morale has not fallen away completely.
Burnley drew 1-1 at Nottingham Forest just over a month ago and, more recently, battled to a 2-1 win over Luton in the fixture that had to be re-arranged due to improvement works at Kenilworth Road.
They are in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, too, after wins away to Forest and League Two Salford City.
Burnley’s next three league games see them pitted against Brentford and Bournemouth – teams three points above them and one below them respectively - and Crystal Palace, who they are unbeaten in five meetings against.
There is potential to kickstart their campaign in the next few weeks – and you can bet Kompany has been searching high and low for that wand over the last fortnight to make sure they take advantage.
In the Dugout
Vincent Kompany
Vincent Kompany started his playing career at Anderlecht, in his native Belgium, as a teenager in 2000.
He progressed through the youth ranks at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium to the first team, where he was part of the sides the won the Belgian First Division in 2003/04 under Hugo Broos, and 2005/06 under Ariel Jacobs.
Top European clubs had already shown an interest in the defender during this early part of his career, but it wasn’t until the summer of 2006 that he moved on to Hamburg of the Bundesliga for €10 million. An Achilles injury cut short his first season in Germany, but he managed 37 appearances in all competitions in 2007/08 and added a UEFA Intertoto Cup winner’s medal to his growing list of achievements.
In August 2008, Kompany signed for Manchester City, one month before Sheikh Mansour’s purchase of the club was completed.
He became an integral part of the revolution at the Etihad Stadium. In the summer of 2011, he was named club captain and he would go on to lift four Premier League titles, four Carabao Cups, two FA Cups and two Community Shields, along with multiple personal accolades.
The later years of his time at the club were heavily disrupted by injury and he managed a total of only 59 Premier League appearances from the 2015/16 to the 2018/19 campaign. During the final weeks of the latter, he scored one of the division’s great goals, with a thumping drive against Leicester City that teed up City’s title win days later.
Later in May 2019, it was announced he would make a fairytale return to Anderlecht as player-manager, but he stepped down to focus on playing after a dismal start and then took up the role on a permanent basis the following year after confirming his retirement after 17 years and more than 500 appearances.
He spent two years in the role, before returning to England to take over at Burnley on a long-term deal and is now the youngest manager in the Premier League at 37.
Team News
Flekken and Mee in contention for Burnley clash
Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken is fit to face Burnley on Saturday, while defender Ben Mee could appear for first time since mid-September against his former club.
Flekken has recovered from Appendicitis and Mee, who has been absent with a muscle injury, has been training with the squad at Jersey Road this week.
“Ben Mee is getting closer, which is positive,” head coach Thomas Frank revealed at his pre-match press conference.
“He could be available for selection. It’s still only four weeks after his injury, but he’s been training with the team.
Frank added: “Shandon Baptiste and Myles Peart-Harris have both part-trained with the team, and Josh Dasilva is on his own but on the grass. [Mikkel] Damsgaard his progressing really well after his minor knee surgery.
“Keane Lewis-Potter [calf] is progressing quite well. I don’t know the timeline exactly, but it’s not as long as I had feared. It’s positive.”
Read Thomas Frank's pre-match thoughts here
The Gameplan
With Andy Jones, Burnley correspondent for The Athletic
Andy Jones, Burnley correspondent for The Athletic, explains how Vincent Kompany is likely to set up his side on Saturday:
“There will usually be one or two changes each week as he rarely names an unchanged team, but it will be a 4-3-3 set-up, with a likely midfield of Josh Cullen, Josh Brownhill and Sander Berge, and Lyle Foster being the point of attack.
“What Burnley like to do is play with inverted full-backs, though not as much this season as last because of not having as much possession - but, when they can do it, they do.
“Kompany is a tactical thinker and, often, we will not know exactly what they are doing until they kick off.”
Read the full interview with Andy Jones here
Match Officials
Smith handed his third Premier League assignment
Referee: Josh Smith
Assistants: Harry Lennard and Nick Hopton
Fourth official: Darren England
VAR: Stuart Attwell
Josh Smith, one of the youngest referees in the professional game, started refereeing in 2006, aged just 14, following in the footsteps of his father, who had also been a football referee.
Smith officiated 35 games last season, showing 140 yellow cards and four reds.
He took charge of his first Premier League game on 20 May 2023 – a 2-2 draw between Fulham and Crystal Palace.
Last Meeting
Brentford 2 Burnley 0 (Premier League, 12 March 2022)
Ivan Toney scored twice in the last five minutes as Brentford beat Burnley.
The Bees probably had slightly the better of the game, but it looked like it would end all square.
However, Toney powered home a Christian Eriksen cross and then won and converted a penalty to secure a 2-0 win.