3 Ways Chelsea Can Defeat Brentford Tomorrow

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·17 September 2026

3 Ways Chelsea Can Defeat Brentford Tomorrow

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Brentford The Bees

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Opinion

Chelsea face Brentford tomorrow in a historically unfavourable fixture, with 2 wins in their last 9 against the Bees. This season could be a different story though, with the Blues looking like everything they touch turns to goals. In about the only decent result he got in his tenure at Chelsea, Liam Rosenior’s side managed to beat Brentford 2-0 in their last outing. Alonso will be hoping he can match his predecessor, so here are 3 ways Chelsea can defeat Brentford tomorrow.

Predicted Lineup

Before getting into how Alonso can break the Bees down, here’s a potential lineup the Spaniard may field:

Chelsea Lineup (3-4-3): Martinez, Colwill, Lacroix, Fofana, Gusto, Lavia, Barco, Neto, Palmer, Rogers, Welbeck

There’s a lot of ambiguity surrounding Chelsea’s injuries following Xabi Alonso’s vague answers in today’s press conference, so this lineup assumes that James, Caicedo and Joao Pedro will not feature since they were absent in Chelsea’s recent training session. Jordan Henderson and Marco Palestra were back training and could debut off the bench for the Blues. Welbeck has hit good form at the start of the season so could lead the line for Chelsea in Pedro’s absence.

Plug holes at the back

Chelsea have been in the scoring form of their lives this season, scoring in every game so far. However, they still have no clean sheets. Their biggest weakness is, evidently, tightening up at the back. This will come as a concern to the Blues after investing over £118 million in their defence this summer. Alonso has addressed this previously but still Chelsea keep conceding. He needs to find a solution for tomorrow should he want to conquer Brentford, a hurdle that Chelsea have found it difficult to jump.

One possible answer is to play with a bit more possession. We have seen Alonso be happy to let the opposition have the ball this season, and perhaps the solution is to go against this and keep the ball a bit more. We saw this approach under Enzo Maresca, where Chelsea had a great defensive record. This may result in less goalscoring opportunities but also, your opponent can’t score when your team has the ball.

Use Danny Welbeck as the outlet

Welbeck has started his life at Stamford Bridge strong, already beating Liam Delap’s tally from last season in 44 less appearances. Welbeck possesses great linkup play and a fantastic understanding of the game, something that will be incredibly useful next to Palmer and Rogers. With the two best number tens in the league either side of him, getting Welbeck into the action will be Chelsea’s lifeline up front in a world where Joao Pedro is unavailable.

The 35-year-old has a striker’s instinct that has already been shown off in his cameos so far, and Chelsea’s midfield men will be looking for his runs whenever they can. His heading ability means crosses will be effective, something that Pedro Neto enjoys doing. Malo Gusto also assisted him with a great cross against Luton, so Alonso will likely be telling the squad to give the former Brighton man as many chances as possible.

Keep Kevin Schade quiet

Schade has had a thunderous start to the season, scoring twice against Bournemouth, once against Leeds and putting in a good showing against Spurs. Chelsea will be especially concerned about his abundance of pace, something that can be an issue for Malo Gusto should he play down that right hand side. Wesley Fofana will have a few things to think about should he start too, and Alonso will want to put a lock on the German if possible.

Alonso will likely ask a couple of players to double up as he will not want Schade blazing past his defence. The presence of Igor Thiago means the German has a few options in the box if he decides not to go for a shot. This sort of versatility that he possesses will be a thorn in Chelsea’s side and they will want to keep an eye on him.