Brentford face League One side Leyton Orient in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday (7.45pm kick-off GMT), as they look to take one step closer to the final at Wembley Stadium.
The Bees have won their opening two home games, against Crystal Palace and Southampton; Leyton Orient are currently in the relegation zone in the third tier, but did pick up their first league victory of the season on Saturday.
Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the fixture.
Gtech is offering a free junior ticket with every adult or concession ticket purchased for Brentford's Carabao Cup tie against Leyton Orient on Tuesday 17 September. Get your tickets now.
Pre-match analysis
Alex Lawes, Playmaker Stats: Set-pieces could be key for Brentford on Tuesday night
After a bright start to the 2024/25 Premier League season, Brentford will now turn their attention back to the EFL Cup with the dream of winning a first-ever major trophy still alive.
The Bees came through a hard-fought second-round tie against League Two side Colchester United last month, and now take a step up as they face League One opposition in what is a London derby against Leyton Orient.
Some may be forgiven for simply looking at Orient’s season so far and believing them to be relegation fodder in the third tier, but the O's, under the management of Richie Wellens, are much more representative of their impressive win away at Reading at the weekend, rather than the four successive defeats that preceded that victory.
In fact, those first three games came against last season’s play-off finalists Bolton Wanderers, before defeats to two of the likely automatic promotion contenders - Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City - before an admittedly poor performance and result against Shrewsbury Town, albeit the 3-0 scoreline flattered Shrews with two late strikes from Tom Bloxham.
The poor underlying expected goals data for Orient, which has them second bottom in League One rather than their actual position of third bottom, is more illustrative of the standard of their opponents, too, rather than a reflection on their own quality.
Whilst it has been a poor start, there is mitigation and there are also reasons to be positive - and therefore ever so slightly concerned for Brentford with a clear ability to get the ball down and play.
Ineffectiveness from set-pieces, though, will be an issue for them as they take on the versatility and variation of an impressive Brentford side - and Thomas Frank’s side, with an aerial duel winning percentage of 55 per cent, will expect to dominate in the air.
That said, the slickness of their play that they showed to gain promotion from the Championship a few years ago has also been shown at times this season once again, too, so there are a variety of challenges Brentford pose.
The Bees, on paper and surely in reality, are expected to win, but the start to this season for Orient has not quite been as poor as results may suggest.
Scout Report
Dan Long, Sky Sports: Orient in League One relegation zone after difficult start to season
It may not have seen like it at the time, but when referee Bobby Madley blew the final whistle that confirmed Brentford's 1-0 win over Leyton Orient in March 2014, he set in motion the opposing trajectories of the two clubs for the best part of the next decade.
As Brentford carried the momentum of a crucial victory over their nearest promotion rivals, Orient won one of the next seven. By the time Russell Slade's side picked up another victory on 26 April, it was too late. The Bees had been promoted five days earlier, meaning it was play-offs or bust for the O's. Having been 2-0 up at Wembley, they lost on penalties to Rotherham.
With an understandable hangover, under the guidance of three separate permanent managers, the east Londoners finished second bottom in 2014/15 and dropped into League Two. Under the guidance of five permanent managers in 2016/17, they finished bottom of the entire EFL and dropped into non-league for the first time in 112 years.
Thanks to Justin Edinburgh, Orient's stay in the National League lasted just two years as he guided them to the title in 2018/19, just weeks before his tragic death from a cardiac arrest at the age of 49.
A much more conservative figure of five men took Orient through the two seasons that followed - and for most of 2021/22 - on either a caretaker or permanent basis, as they consolidated their place in League Two.
Kenny Jackett was sacked on 22 February 2022 after a run of nine defeats in 12 left the club looking back towards the abyss, but Richie Wellens was appointed just in the nick of time. He picked up 23 points of the first 39 on offer to him, which took Orient to within three points of a top-half finish. In his second season, Orient won nine of their first 10 on the way to sealing promotion with four games to spare.
Last season was Orient's first back in League One since 2014/15 and, after a rough opening month, they settled down nicely, which was helped by the fact they had exited the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy before Christmas.
Wellens won the Sky Bet League One Manager of the Month award for January after an exquisite unbeaten run that spanned Boxing Day to 6 February and consisted of six wins and two draws. Even the play-offs were within touching distance at that point.
In the end, Orient finished in 11th, which convinced the club to award Wellens a well-deserved three-year contract. "The fact that we only finished 11 points off the play-offs with the number of injuries that we had this season excites me for the future," he said.
This season probably hasn't started the way he will have hoped after that: they are in the League One relegation zone, having lost four of their opening five games, but three of those have been by a one-goal margin against some heavy hitters in Bolton, Charlton and Birmingham.
Professional wins over Reading on Saturday, as well as Newport County and Millwall in the Carabao Cup will have convinced players and staff they are on the right track.
That said, football is a results business and it remains to be seen how much longer Wellens has to lift his side from the basement, look towards the same targets as last year - and start to narrow the gap to Brentford that opened up a decade ago.
In the Dugout
Richie Wellens
Richie Wellens came through the academy at Manchester United, but departed in March 2000, after just one Worthington Cup appearance, to join Blackpool.
The midfielder made over 200 appearances during five successful years at Bloomfield Road, where he helped the Tangerines to promotion via the Third Division play-offs in 2001, as well as winning the LDV Vans Trophy on two occasions.
Wellens was so reliable that, over the course of the four seasons that followed - two at Oldham and two at Doncaster - he missed only 12 league matches and made 198 appearances in all competitions.
Leicester paid a reported £1.2 million fee to sign him in the summer of 2009 and he proved to be a valuable asset over a number of years, winning the club's Player of the Year award in 2010/11. His final major move was to return to Doncaster and, after three years there, he had short spells at Shrewsbury, Salford and Macclesfield.
Shortly after retiring, he went back to Oldham as first-team coach but, less than three months in, he took over from John Sheridan; first as caretaker, then permanently in October 2017. That job lasted until the end of the season and, in November 2018, he joined Swindon where, in his second season, he led the Robins to the League Two title.
Over the next year, he managed former clubs Salford and Doncaster for a grand total of 56 games, 17 of which his side won. Three months after leaving the latter in December 2021, he was appointed at Leyton Orient, where he again won League Two in his first full season at the helm. Having just passed two-and-a-half years in the job, he is the club's longest-serving manager since Russell Slade.
The Gameplan
With BBC Radio London's Dave Victor
Dave Victor reveals the players that Brentford need to keep an eye on ahead of the Carabao Cup clash at the Gtech on Tuesday night.
"It is normally one striker up front with three behind him; that centre-forward will be either Charlie Kelman or Dan Agyei," he said.
"It will be a high press, high energy and, I think, with a focus on taking the game to Brentford. What Wellens will want to avoid in doing that, though, is the mistakes that have been so costly."
On the Orient players Brentford will have to keep a close eye on, he added: "Ethan Galbraith was signed last summer from Manchester United and he cleaned up at the end-of-season awards, winning the Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season. He is an exceptional player and Orient did well to keep him during the summer window because he must have attracted interest.
"If he is fit, without a doubt, the best player in the Orient squad is Jordan Graham. He signed last summer from Birmingham but picked up an injury in late October and has not featured since, but he makes such a difference when he does play."
Last League One starting XI v Reading (4-2-3-1): Hemming; Currie, Happe, Beckles, James; Clare, Brown; Agyei, Galbraith, O'Neill; Kelman
Read our full interview with Dave Victor here.
Pre-match press conference
Wissa out for a 'couple of months', says Frank
As well as discussing Tuesday's Carabao Cup clash, Brentford head coach Thomas Frank confirmed that forward Yoane Wissa will be out for a "couple of months" after picking up an ankle injury against Manchester City.
Wissa limped off in the first half at Etihad Stadium after a challenge by midfielder Mateo Kovačić and will now be unavailable until November.
Frank stated: "Wissa is, unfortunately, not good news: it looks like an injury that will be a couple of months.
"It’s very frustrating. We talked about our many injuries last year, I hope I don't have to talk too much about it this year, I maybe already have.
"We were unlucky with Igor [Thiago], unlucky with [Aaron] Hickey; we've then had two contact injuries with Mathias Jensen and Yoane Wissa, so that's very frustrating.
"But that's part of football, we move on, and we will find solutions."
Match Officials
Smith the man in the middle for Tuesday's cup clash
Referee: Lewis Smith
Assistants: Michael Webb and Jonathon Block
Fourth Official: Tom Reeves
30-year-old referee Lewis Smith will be in charge for Brentford v Leyton Orient.
He has never refereed a Bees game, having made his Premier League debut earlier this year, becoming the youngest person to take charge of a match in the competition last term.
Smith has had the whistle for seven Premier League and EFL games this season, issuing 25 yellow cards and no reds.
He also took charge of some matches in Japan in March, in an exchange programme with the J-League.
Looking back
Brentford's famous win over Leyton Orient in 2013/14
Brentford’s last meeting with Leyton Orient came almost 10 years and six months prior to Tuesday’s visit of the east Londoners to Gtech Community Stadium in the Carabao Cup.
It was a second-v-third League One showdown at Brisbane Road, with Orient sat second on 74 points after 36 games and Mark Warburton’s side one point and one place below, but, crucially, with two games in hand.
In the late spring sun, Marcello Trotta’s low strike in the second minute of first-half stoppage time killed the game off and, in hindsight, Orient’s automatic promotion hopes with it.
Dan Long spoke to three players who played that day - Clayton Donaldson, Alan Judge and Alan McCormack - and reminisced on a key moment in the Bees' 2013/14 promotion season.
Last Time Out
Manchester City 2 Brentford 1
Yoane Wissa was on target as Brentford were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Premier League champions Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.
The DR Congo international got the Bees off to a flyer at Etihad Stadium - heading beyond Ederson inside the opening 30 seconds - but striker Erling Haaland struck twice before the break to turn the game in City’s favour.