AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth will be hoping to complete their home fixtures with a victory when they host Premier League counterparts Brentford on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
The Cherries have won four and drawn two of their past six games at Vitality Stadium and registered an emphatic 3-0 triumph against Brighton in their last home match.
Brentford arrive in Dorset having lost just one of their past seven games, Idrissa Gueye’s goal condemning them to a 1-0 defeat at Everton a fortnight ago.
Just four points separated the Bees from the relegation zone after they went down 2-1 against struggling Burnley at Turf Moor in mid-March.
But a hat-trick of draws against Manchester United (1-1), Brighton (0-0) and Aston Villa (3-3) were followed by back-to-back wins against Sheffield United (2-0) and Luton (5-1).
Following the narrow defeat at Goodison Park, Thomas Frank’s team battled out a 0-0 draw with London rivals Fulham at the Gtech Community Stadium last Saturday.
Bryan Mbeumo’s late leveller earned the Bees a 2-2 draw against the Cherries in September with Dom Solanke and David Brooks on target for Andoni Iraola’s team.
Ahead of Saturday’s clash, afcb.co.uk caught up with Ian Westbrook who covers the fortunes of the Bees as a fan writer for BBC Sport and for Beesotted, the Brentford fans’ network.
BRENTFORD PROFILE
Founded: 1889
Ground: Gtech Community Stadium
Nicknames: The Bees
Record appearances: Ken Coote – 559 games (1949-1963)
Record goalscorer: Jim Towers – 163 goals in 282 games
Manager: Thomas Frank (appointed October 2018)
Club captain: Christian Nørgaard
League position: 16th
Leading goalscorer: Yoane Wissa (10 in Premier League)
Last game: Brentford 0 Fulham 0 (Premier League)
afcb.co.uk: How would you assess their current form?
IW: We hit form at the right time to push ourselves away from any trouble.
After the international break in March, we went five games unbeaten.
But strangely, since safety was secured before the Everton game, we’ve taken one point from two games and haven’t scored.
It’s tailed off a little but, luckily, we pulled ourselves over the line with time to spare.
afcb.co.uk: What’s Thomas Frank (pictured above) like away from the media glare?
IW: From what I understand, he’s a relaxed and nice guy. He’s a brilliant man-manager.
During the Covid season, I covered about 30 games for a website so I did quite a lot of his press conferences and he’s very thoughtful.
When you ask him a question, he won’t just blurt out an answer, he will think carefully about what he says. He doesn’t spin you too many lines.
afcb.co.uk: They are 16th in the league table, 16th in the home table and 16th in the away table – is this a fair reflection of their season?
IW: I guess so.
The season was ruined by the number of injuries we had. Around December/January, we had an entire first team of outfield players on the sidelines, injured or suspended.
Three of the regular back four are still injured and the fact we haven’t been in the bottom three for one second is an amazing achievement.
While we are lower than we would like to be, to do that and comfortably avoid going down has been a fair reflection.
The main problems have been conceding too many goals, especially headers at the far post, and dropping too many points from winning positions. I think it’s about 30, which is the highest in the league.
All things considered, I think we’ve done pretty well.
afcb.co.uk: Who would get your vote for player of the season?
IW: This is quite a tough one because nobody has been outstanding.
I would split it between one of two players, either Yoane Wissa or Vitaly Janelt (pictured above).
Wissa is the top scorer with ten goals and has had a stop-start season.
He started well and then had a bit of a drought before AFCON. Since AFCON, he’s come back and is back to his best.
Janelt has been involved in every game and is like a machine. He’s versatile and can play as a defensive or attacking midfielder and has also filled in at full-back.
If I’m allowed to choose two, I’d choose those two.
afcb.co.uk: Give us a word on Yoane Wissa (pictured above) who made his 100th Premier League appearance against Fulham?
IW: He’s a great central striker and a natural finisher. If he gets a chance, eight times out of ten he will take it.
Sometimes he’s played out wide which isn’t his best position. He’s a born goalscorer and, when he fills in as a central striker, he’s done really well for us.
afcb.co.uk: Who is their unsung hero this season?
IW: I’ll go for Mads Roerslev (pictured above) who has had to fill in at full-back quite a lot.
He’s one of those players you would call a steady Eddie of the squad. He’s quite consistent when he plays.
He’s second choice right-back and due to injury to Aaron Hickey and also Kris Ajer, he’s played a lot of games.
He’s improved steadily throughout the season so I’ll go for him.
afcb.co.uk: Are any key players either injured or suspended against the Cherries?
IW: We are without three of the first choice back four – Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry and Ben Mee (pictured above).
Mathias Jensen missed the Fulham game with what Thomas Frank called a minor injury. He said if the game had been important, he would have played but he didn’t.
He’s the only non-long term one who could be out on Saturday.
afcb.co.uk: How do you see this one panning out and what’s your score prediction?
IW: I looked at this game and the Fulham game as ones which could go one of two ways.
Either both teams will play with freedom and there will be lots of goals or it will be like the Fulham game which was a dreadful 0-0 draw.
I’m going to be optimistic and go with an exciting 2-2 draw.
You can follow Ian on X – @ianwestbrook
Officials: Matthew Donohue (referee), Simon Long (assistant), Mark Scholes (assistant), Tim Robinson (fourth official), Christopher Kavanagh (VAR).
