Maresca highlights importance of Chelsea momentum ahead of derby

Enzo Maresca has called connected Chelsea to harbour the momentum built by Thursday’s triumph implicit Tottenham erstwhile they look Brentford successful different London derby connected Sunday.

A second-half header from Enzo Fernandez guided Chelsea to a 1-0 triumph implicit Spurs past clip out, successful a crippled they dominated for agelong periods.

The triumph lifted Chelsea backmost into the apical 4 of the Premier League array aft 4 of their rivals for Champions League qualification – Nottingham Forest, Manchester City,

Newcastle United and Aston Villa – recorded victories of their ain earlier successful the week.

“Every clip you win, mentation for the adjacent crippled is better,” Maresca said astatine Friday’s property conference, arsenic helium previewed Chelsea’s travel to the Gtech Community Stadium.

“Hopefully, from the Tottenham crippled we tin physique momentum, knowing that each crippled volition beryllium hard until the end.”

Maresca knows the choky turnaround betwixt Chelsea’s 2 games this week presents a challenge, saying: “We request to retrieve vigor and spell again. For Sunday, it volition beryllium astir however we negociate the tiredness. Brentford for definite volition beryllium a precise pugnacious game.

“You saw connected Wednesday nighttime they mislaid distant astatine Newcastle, but it was a pugnacious game. From present on, each crippled is going to beryllium tough.

“The people is to effort to decorativeness wherever we person been each season. In the archetypal 5 oregon six months, due to the fact that we were second, the expectations changed a small bit. But each season, we person been successful the apical 4 oregon five, and we volition effort our champion to decorativeness there.”

Brentford mislaid 2-1 astatine Newcastle past clip out, with Sandro Tonali’s spectacular extremity handing the Magpies triumph aft Bryan Mbeumo cancelled retired Alexander Isak’s opener.

But the Bees stay firmly successful contention for a top-half finish, with perchance an extracurricular changeable astatine Europe. They are 11th with 41 points, 3 adrift of Bournemouth successful 10th.

Forward Kevin Schade said: “We are each enjoying it. It has been a precise bully play for each of us. We combat for each different and the goals are coming naturally.

“I’m speedy and Brentford’s strategy is to play rapidly astatine the top, with heavy runners and crosses from the outside. That’s my game, the benignant fits my game.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brentford – Yoane Wissa

Wissa has had a manus successful 13 goals successful his past 14 location Premier League appearances (11 goals, 2 assists), and the Brentford guardant scored the Bees’ 2nd extremity successful the 2-2 gully with Chelsea successful this fixture past season.

Chelsea – Cole Palmer

Palmer assisted Fernandez’s victor against Spurs connected Thursday, ending a 15-game hold for an assistance successful Premier League action.

It was besides the England international’s archetypal extremity engagement successful the contention since scoring successful a 2-2 gully with Bournemouth successful mid-January, and helium volition beryllium determined to footwear connected now.

MATCH PREDICTION – CHELSEA WIN

Having won the reverse fixture 2-1 successful December, Chelsea are looking to implicit their archetypal league treble implicit Brentford since the 1946-47 campaign.

The Blues participate this 1 arsenic favourites, with Brentford having struggled astatine location lately.

Brentford person gone 7 Premier League games without a triumph astatine the Gtech Community Stadium (two draws, 5 defeats), their worst tally successful the league since a nine-game streak betwixt September and December 2006 – they finished bottommost of League One that season.

Frank’s men are besides the lone broadside without a location Premier League cleanable expanse this play and person gone 16 location league games without a shutout dating backmost to past campaign.

However, Chelsea volition person to flooded their ain question sickness. In each competitions, they person won 2 of their past 10 distant games (two draws, six losses) and those victories took spot successful Kazakhstan (3-1 versus Astana) and Denmark (2-1 against Copenhagen).

Maresca’s men person won nary of their past 8 distant games successful England (two draws, six defeats), but they volition backmost themselves to extremity that tally here.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Brentford – 31.3%

Chelsea – 43.8%

Draw – 24.9%