Brentford Match Preview

I mentioned in my preview to the game at home to Everton a week ago that West Ham United spent the entirety of April in London and that runs over into May when they will be hoping to pull further clear of the relegation zone, as they travel to The Gtech Community Stadium to face Brentford this afternoon.

It would be fair to say that former Head-Coach Julen Lopetegui did better than his predecessor here in steering the Irons to their first ever Premier League point here back in September 2024, but current boss Nuno Espírito Santo needs to go one better than that and engineer a first win on the road for his side since beating Fulham back on March 4.

During three league matches last month, the Hammers went unbeaten and will want to continue that streak. Given the run of form that they are currently on, you wouldn’t bet against them doing just that.

The ever-loyal fan base will remember that the ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest Head-Coach lost his first home game in charge of the East Londoners, as the Bees claimed their first away win of the season and they went home from Stratford with a 2-0 success back on 20 October.

After knocking the West London side out of the Emirates FA Cup in March, the visitors will be mindful of the fact that Keith Andrews’ side haven’t tasted victory here since their 3-0 triumph over newly-promoted Sunderland all the way back on 7 January. With that in mind, Espírito Santo will see this as an ideal opportunity to extend that winless run and clinch maximum points for the first time since the most recent international break.

The visitors will be the fresher of the two sides having had more time to prepare for this game as Brentford were last in action on Monday night when they lost away at Manchester United.

Espírito Santo may once again name an unchanged side, as he has a fully fit squad to choose from. However, if he does decide to make changes then Callum Wilson is available to play a part after scoring the winner against the Toffees.

Today’s encounter kicks off at 3pm and the referee is Craig Pawson.