Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea make the short journey across West London on Friday evening to take on Brentford, with the visitors aiming to collect three points and open up some breathing room over their hosts.

The Bees currently trail the Blues by just one point and sit one place behind them in the Premier League standings, with Chelsea occupying sixth position.

Brentford have gone six games unbeaten

Chelsea’s league fixtures have produced 19 goals so far in the 2026/27 campaign, with 10 scored and nine conceded. That is more combined goals than any other team in the division, a statistic that will likely concern Alonso given his side’s defensive record.

Only Brighton have found the net more frequently than Chelsea, while Coventry, Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace are the only teams to have conceded more goals than the Blues.

Looking at the calendar year as a whole, only Crystal Palace have conceded more goals away from home than Chelsea, with the Eagles shipping 23 compared with the Blues’ 21. Improving their defensive consistency will therefore remain an important task for Alonso and his coaching staff.

Brentford will enter Friday’s meeting on a six-game unbeaten streak, while Chelsea have managed just one victory in their last six away matches. With those contrasting runs in mind, the hosts have a realistic opportunity to cause an upset.

Chelsea have avoided defeat in their last five meetings with Brentford, winning two and drawing three. That is a notable turnaround from their first five Premier League encounters, when the Blues suffered three defeats, alongside one win and one draw. The last four meetings at the GTech Community Stadium have all ended level.

Brentford are still searching for their first home Premier League victory over their West London neighbours, having failed to win any of their five previous encounters on home soil. Keith Andrews and his players will see Friday’s fixture as a chance to finally end that unwanted record.

Could Henderson face his former club?

Jordan Henderson could be in line to feature against his former employers if Moises Caicedo is unable to recover from injury in time. However, the former Brentford skipper could face a tough midfield battle against the energetic Mamadou Sangare.

Since arriving from Lens during the summer, Sangare has shown he can cope with the physical demands of English football. He has already registered 127 high-intensity pressures in the opposition half and made 13 tackles, placing him joint-fifth among Premier League players this season in that category.

Henderson remains a highly competitive midfielder who continues to give everything on the pitch, but Caicedo currently offers a different level of quality and influence in the middle of the park.

The Ecuador international is believed to have a realistic chance of recovering in time for the match, and unless there are clear concerns over his fitness, Alonso may be prepared to take a calculated risk by starting the 24-year-old.

Caicedo, Henderson and Emmanuel Emegha will all undergo late fitness checks ahead of the fixture, while Marco Palestra has been ruled out for the visitors.

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Joao Pedro is key for Chelsea

One player expected to feature is Joao Pedro, with Chelsea likely to depend heavily on the Brazilian forward to provide the attacking spark and help them secure a positive result.

Joao Pedro has already registered six goal contributions this season, with three goals and three assists to his name. Since the start of the 2025/26 campaign, no other Premier League player has scored and assisted in the same match as many times as the Brazilian, who has done so on six occasions.

His latest goal also proved decisive in Chelsea’s previous outing, although it was only enough to secure a point in a frustrating 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge against newly promoted Hull City.

Brentford will be without Joshua Dasilva, Antoni Milambo, Nathan Collins, Kaye Furo and Sepp van den Berg for the clash. Mathias Jensen is also a doubt, with his chances of featuring rated at just 25%.

Two contrasting styles

Friday’s encounter could see two very different approaches on display.

Keith Andrews is expected to organise Brentford in a compact defensive setup, making it difficult for Chelsea to find openings. The Bees will likely look to absorb pressure before using their pace and space on the counter-attack.

Alonso, meanwhile, will be looking for Chelsea to produce the fluent attacking football that has become a familiar feature of the side in recent seasons.

With this being the final league fixture before the first international break of the campaign, both teams will be keen to head into the pause on a positive note. Three points would provide a valuable boost in confidence before the players depart for international duty.