Brentford and Fulham head into their encounter on Thursday evening looking to earn a rare appearance in the EFL Cup quarter-finals.
While Brentford have reached this stage of the competition courtesy of wins at Southampton and West Bromwich Albion, Fulham have got the better of Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday.
Match preview
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When Fulham earned promotion to the Premier League at the beginning of last month, Scott Parker suggested that personnel changes would be kept to a minimum.
However, on the back of three straight defeats in the top flight, co-owner Tony Khan has promised further arrivals on top of the seven new signings which have already been made in recent weeks.
The manner of the club's 3-0 defeat against Aston Villa means that it is an uncertain time for both the club and Parker, who may be concerned about the time which he will be afforded to turn things around.
Although their efforts in the Championship will not be instantly forgotten, Parker knows that survival this season is key if Fulham are to continue on an upward trajectory.
Progression in the EFL Cup is way down the list of priorities, but the Englishman will not want to give club officials any further reason to doubt whether he is the right man to take the team to the next level.
Key figures and supporters may have felt the same when Thomas Frank was promoted to the role of Brentford head coach when Dean Smith departed in 2018.
The Dane has proven people wrong by producing and continuing to develop a team which are playing some of the best football below the top flight, as well as reaping the financial benefits through player sales.
Frank has made alterations in this competition, but that has not stopped Brentford from overcoming Southampton and West Brom in recent weeks.
Despite their costly loss of form at key moments last season, the Bees do not look like faltering any time soon, and they will have full confidence that they can take another Premier League scalp regardless which players who take to the pitch on Thursday night.
Brentford EFL Cup form: DWD
Brentford form (all competitions): DLWWDD
Fulham EFL Cup form: WW
Fulham form (all competitions): LWLWL
Team News
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Brentford are not able to call upon Rico Henry and Mathias Jensen, who both sustained injuries during the game with Millwall.
However, goalkeeper David Raya, an alleged former target for Arsenal, is in line for his second appearance of the season.
Charlie Goode, Mads Bech Sorensen, Shandon Baptiste and Marcus Forss should also be handed recalls for this fixture.
Parker will rest key forward Aleksandar Mitrovic, meaning that Aboubakar Kamara will almost certainly line up down the middle of Fulham's attack.
The Cottagers are also likely to switch to a back four, with Maxime Le Marchand and Antonee Robinson in contention to feature in defence.
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Raya; Dalsgaard, Goode, Sorensen, Thompson; Dasilva, Baptiste, Marcondes; Canos, Forrs, Fosu-Henry
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Odoi, Hector, Le Marchand, Robinson; Onomah, Johansen; Knockaert, Decordova-Reid, Kebano; Kamara
We say: Brentford 3-1 Fulham
Despite the likelihood of mass changes being made, we expect Brentford's second-string to get the better of their more-proven opponents. Some of the players who feature for Fulham may be moved on before the end of the transfer window, and that may be enough for the Bees to hold the edge in this contest.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:dataData Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brentford win with a probability of 45.41%. A win for Fulham had a probability of 28.83% and a draw had a probability of 25.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brentford win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.81%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.13%) and 2-0 (8.06%). The likeliest Fulham win was 0-1 (8.22%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.25%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Brentford would win this match.
