Charlton contest their first London derby of the season against Brentford this afternoon and will be looking to extend their unbeaten run in the Championship.
The Addicks sit on eight points from a possible 12 in the league after their draw in midweek with Nottingham Forest and will be looking to build upon that fantastic performance that should have been rewarded with all three points.
The Bees have had a slow start to the campaign, sitting on 4 points after losing on Wednesday night to Leeds United, so manager Thomas Frank will be desperate for his side to pick up some points and build the morale in his side.
Team News
Chris Solly will remain unavailable after suffering a concussion against Barnsley last week. Lewis Page is also likely to be sidelined as he continues his recovery from his injury picked up in pre-season.
There could be an appearance from Tomer Hemed today, after having a couple training sessions with the squad. His former Brighton teammate Beram Kayal is nearing full fitness, but today’s game is probably too soon for him.
Frank has a full Brentford squad to choose from, with no injuries or suspensions.
Tyler’s Take
London derbies are always set to be eventful and today’s game is no exception.
Charlton are in good form; unbeaten start and that performance in midweek against Nottingham Forest will have the team grinning with confidence, so I expect it to be a similar display of that first half on Wednesday night. Brentford are struggling to win games but they are a very decent side who will cause us problems.
The Addicks are the joint top scorers in the division, but have conceded a goal in every game so far. The Bees are the lowest scoring having found the back of the net only twice, but they’ve only conceded three, so they’ll be tight in the defence and it won’t be easy to break them down.
It’ll be difficult for Bowyer to choose the team today. Will Williams play after Oztumer’s impressive debut? Will Hemed feature in the squad? Brentford have some quality players like Pontus Jansson, Mathias Jensen and Said Benrahma, but they’re lacking goals and I think they’ll find it difficult coming to The Valley to try and fix that.
They’ve not been conceding many however, so they’ll be tough to crack down, but with The Valley booming with noise and the squad in high spirits after playing some brilliant football recently, I’m going to tip the home side to come away with a derby day win.
Score Prediction: Charlton Athletic 2-1 Brentford