Brentford team news: Sarmiento ruled out

Our men’s first team return to Premier League action on Saturday as we welcome Brentford to the Amex, kick-off 3pm.

With only one defeat in the league this year, Roberto De Zerbi’s team could make it three consecutive wins in all competitions with victory having beaten Crystal Palace and Grimsby Town before the international break. 

Should Liverpool fail to beat Manchester City in the 12.30pm kick-off and Albion beat the Bees,  we will move up to sixth in the Premier League – four points off fourth place Tottenham, with two games in hand.

Brentford though are one of the six teams that have beaten us in the league so far this season and are level on points with us (42), although they have played two more games.

A similar run of form has seen them lose just once in 2023, while wins this season against Manchester City and Liverpool, as well as a draw with league leaders Arsenal reflects the fine season Thomas Frank’s team are enjoying.

Contrasting styles will be on show at the Amex though. Albion have enjoyed the second highest amount of possession on average in the Premier League this season with 60.8%, while Brentford have had the fourth lowest, with 43%.

Team news

Jeremy Sarmiento will miss an extended period after picking up an injury while on international duty with Ecuador, while Tariq Lamptey could return to first team action in the coming days.

"We are sorry for Jeremy because now we will endure a very tough period with seven games in April," Roberto De Zerbi explained. "We will play every three days and it would be better to have a complete squad.

"Jeremy will be out for a month and a half, two months. Tariq will be able to play, I don't know about this Saturday, but maybe the game after that."

Our last meeting

Roberto De Zerbi’s wait for his first win was extended to three games when we lost 2-0 at Brentford in October. Ivan Toney scored twice to end a decent run of results for Albion against the Bees. Prior to that defeat we’d beaten Brentford in three of our previous five meetings, and did the double over them last season with a 2-0 Amex win and 1-0 success at Brentford. 

Player to watch

Ivan Toney’s 16 league goals so far this season makes him third-top scorer in the league. That fantastic form in front of goal was rewarded with his first England appearance earlier this week when he came on as a substitute in the 2-0 win over Ukraine.

Match stats

Brighton have alternated between victory (3) and defeat (2) in their last five home league games against Brentford, winning this exact fixture 2-0 last season.

Following their 2-0 win at the Brentford Community stadium in October, Brentford are looking to complete their first league double over Brighton since the 2014-15 campaign when the sides were in the Championship.

Brighton have won four of their last five Premier League home games (L1), keeping a clean sheet in each victory. Only twice have they won three in a row at the Amex Stadium in the Premier League (March 2018 and November 2019), and never without conceding.

Five of Brighton's seven Premier League defeats this season have come against London clubs, including three of their four home losses.

Brentford have lost just one of their last 15 Premier League games (W7 D7), a 1-0 defeat at Everton last month. Away from home, the Bees have won three of their last six league games (D2 L1), having been winless in their first seven on the road this term (D4 L3).

Including penalties, Brentford have scored a league-high 19 goals from set pieces in the Premier League this season, while Brighton have shipped a league-high proportion of their goals from set piece situations (45% - 14/31). No side has scored more penalties than Brentford this term (6), while only Bournemouth (6) have conceded more from the spot than Brighton (5).

Brighton pair Kaoru Mitoma and Pascal Gross have each scored six Premier League goals from 23 shots this season – their conversion rate of 26.1% is bettered only by Man City's Erling Haaland among players with at least 20 shots (31.1%).

Solly March is Brighton's joint-top Premier League goalscorer this season with seven goals. He's the top scoring player in the competition this season who didn't score before the World Cup break, with all seven of his strikes coming in his 11 appearances since Boxing Day.

March has created six chances following a take on in the Premier League this season, more than any other player. March has also been involved in six goals following a ball carry (4 goals, 2 assists), with no player being involved in more.

Brentford’s Ivan Toney has been involved in ten goals in his 12 away games in the Premier League this season (8 goals, 2 assists), with only Erling Haaland and Harry Kane (10 each) scoring more on the road than Toney.

Match officials

Referee: Michael Oliver. Assistants: Stuart Burt, James Mainwaring. Fourth official: Leigh Doughty. VAR: Stuart Attwell. Assistant VAR: Mark Scholes.