Match Preview: Brentford v Burnley | OneFootball

Brentford face Burnley at Gtech Community Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off GMT).

Keith Andrews' side have lost just one of their seven home games in all competitions this season, while the Clarets head into this clash losing all but one of their away matches.

Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the fixture.

Pre-match Analysis

Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: Two low-possession sides go head-to-head at the Gtech

José Mourinho once said, “They can take the ball home; I take the three points.”

The Portuguese icon's point was simple: possession means nothing without purpose. And Brentford and Burnley’s approaches this season reflect a similar low-possession, high-efficiency mindset - even though results have varied.

While Keith Andrews and Scott Parker know their sides still need to be refined and evolve, there are positives for both managers to take with almost a third of the season gone.

As Southampton’s plight last season showed, the Premier League can punish teams who overplay - and neither Brentford nor Burnley can be accused of that particular crime.

The Clarets (39.1 per cent) have the lowest average possession share in the Premier League this season, and Brentford (42.3 per cent) have only seen marginally more of the ball this term.

Yet despite having less of the ball, goals have not been a serious problem for either side ahead of their clash at Gtech Community Stadium this Saturday.

Brentford have hit 18 goals, while last season's runners-up in the Championship have notched 14 - the same number as seventh-placed Sunderland.

While Brentford and Burnley lag in the possession stakes, they rank near the top of the charts in terms of their shot conversion rates. Only Spurs (18.2 per cent) have scored a higher percentage of their shots this season than the Clarets (14.3 per cent), and Brentford (14.2 per cent) are on their opponents' heels in this regard.

Where Brentford have improved - and Burnley have struggled - is in limiting the quantity and quality of shots on their own goal.

The Bees have allowed opponents to take 12.3 shots per game, considerably fewer than last season, and only Arsenal and Sunderland (both 0.10 xG-per-shot against) have given up lower-quality chances than Brentford (0.11). With Andrews’ side also leading the division in shot quality at 0.17 xG-per-shot, the omens look good for the west Londoners.

Meanwhile, Burnley - who lost 2–0 to Chelsea last time out - have taken the fewest shots per game (8.2) in the Premier League and conceded the most (17.3). And with their xG-per-shot (0.11) lower than that of the chances they concede (0.13), the numbers don’t really add up at present for the Clarets.

Scout Report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Burnley have fighting chance of avoiding another immediate relegation

Burnley were promoted back to the Premier League earlier this year - for no less than the fourth time in the last 12 seasons.

They finished second to Leeds on goal difference alone, but they still accrued 100 points, just one fewer than they won the title with two seasons prior. There have only been six instances of 100+ point seasons since the Championship was rebranded for 2004/05 - and two have been achieved by the Clarets.

Interestingly, the two most recent promotion-winning campaigns have been similar from a statistical perspective.

In 2022/23 under Vincent Kompany, they had the highest average possession in the division (64.7 per cent), the second-most accurate passes per game (479) and scored the most goals (87), while also keeping 21 clean sheets and conceding the fewest goals in the division (35).

In 2024/25 under Scott Parker, they ranked fourth for highest possession (56.9 per cent) and accurate passes (415.1) and second in the goalscoring ranks (69).

But what was most eye-catching about the latter was their genuinely incredible defensive record. So good, in fact, that it set a new record for the best defensive record in the history of English league football.

A tally of 16 goals shipped in 46 games equated to 0.35 goals conceded per game. It looks even more impressive when you factor in the fact that their xG conceded figure was 38.4, meaning an overperformance of 22.4.

Not only that, they kept 30 clean sheets, which is the joint-most any team has kept in history. They matched Port Vale’s Third Division North title-winning side of 1953/54 in achieving that feat.

When Kompany took the Clarets up, he was not able to get the same tune out of his players with the attractive style of play in the Premier League.

It took seven games for the first win and another seven for the second. But Parker, with a third promotion from the second tier under his belt now, has more experience managing in this division.

No one expected Burnley to be pulling up trees this season, but they beat Sunderland in the second game of the season - which looks all the more valuable given how Régis Le Bris’ side have gone on to greatly exceed expectations - and secured wins over Leeds and Wolves, who are fighting near the bottom with them.

They only achieved 24 points across the whole of 2023/24 and only four from their first 12 that season. They already have 10 from 12 this season, which suggests they are going to give themselves a fighting chance of avoiding the immediate relegations they fell to in their last two top-flight campaigns.

If they finish 17th and survive on goal difference alone, that will be seen as a relative success, not only for Burnley, but for those with hope of seeing promoted teams remain in the Premier League for more than just one fleeting season.

In the Dugout

Scott Parker

As a footballer, Scott Parker was a product of the Charlton youth set-up, where he started at nine and made his senior debut at the age of 16 in August 1997. The midfielder stayed until he was 23 in January 2004, when he joined Chelsea.

By then, he was a senior England international, having been handed his debut by Sven-Göran Eriksson in a 3-2 loss to Denmark in November 2003. However, he made just 28 appearances across two seasons with the Blues and was sold to Newcastle in the summer of 2005.

After two seasons at St James’ Park, Parker returned to the capital to sign for West Ham. His time there was thoroughly positive, so much so that he was named Hammer of the Year in the last three of his four seasons in east London - and no other player in history has won that accolade three times in succession. West Ham were relegated in 2011, and early on in 2011/12, he returned to the Premier League to join Tottenham.

Another two years followed there before, in August 2013, he signed a three-year deal at Fulham, though he stayed for four seasons in the end and retired from playing at 36 in June 2017.

Parker then spent time coaching back at Spurs, before returning to Fulham and working under Slaviša Jokanović and Claudio Ranieri. He took over in his own right in February 2019 and stayed in the job for more than two years, taking the Whites to the Premier League in 2020. He left after they were relegated in 2021 to take over at Bournemouth, who he also took up in 2021/22.

He left his job with the Cherries in August 2022, shortly after a Premier League record-equaling 9-0 defeat to Liverpool, but was back working four months later, this time at Club Brugge in Belgium. His time there, however, was ill-fated and he was sacked after a little over two months - and just 12 games - in charge in March 2023.

He replaced Vincent Kompany at Burnley in July 2024 and, again in his first season, secured a third promotion from the Championship to the Premier League. Parker, 45, is in the second year of a contract that runs until 2027.

The Gameplan

With Matt Scrafton, Lancashire Evening Post

Matt Scrafton, Burnley writer for Lancashire Evening Post, discusses how the Clarets are likely to be set up this weekend.

"I know it was the Championship, but it was basically a 4-2-3-1 throughout last season," he said. "They changed it during the summer to a five, and that worked to a degree.

"Liverpool beat them with a goal in the 93rd minute back in September, but Burnley really frustrated them, playing as a back five and were really good defensively.

"But they were using it in games against the mid-table or lower-table teams and they did not really have much creativity, so they have changed it since then back to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, however you want to describe it, and that seems a bit more balanced.

"I still expect them to go to the five for when they play against the top sides, like they did against Arsenal recently, but, for Brentford, I would imagine it would be a 4-3-3.

"I do not think they have a noticeable style, to be honest - and that has probably been one of the keys to their success. It is not playing out from the back at all costs, like it was under Vincent Kompany.

"It's not long ball, either... it is just sensible, pragmatic football.

"But when they have a bit of momentum, they play some tidy football and their passing through the thirds has got better as the season has gone on and they have gained more confidence.

"I would not say they are a passing team, I would not say they are a long ball team, I would not say they're a transition team - it is just a bit of everything and it depends what the game demands from you."

Last starting XI v Chelsea (4-3-3): Dúbravka; Walker, Tuanzebe, Estève, Hartman; Ugochukwu, Cullen, Florentino; Tchaouna, Flemming, Anthony

Match Officials

Barrott in charge of first Brentford game this term

Referee: Sam Barrott

Assistants: Tim Wood and Nick Greenhalgh

Fourth Official: Paul Tierney

VAR: Neil Davies

Sam Barrott made his Premier League refereeing debut during the 2023/24 season - Fulham’s 3-1 victory over Sheffield United - having previously worked in the EFL and National League.

The West Riding-based official has taken charge of 10 games across all competitions this campaign, showing 49 yellow cards and one red.

Barrott was the man in the middle for the Bees' 1-0 away win over Ipswich Town towards the end of last season, when he showed six cards at Portman Road.

Memorable Meeting

Brentford 3 Burnley 0, (Premier League, 21 October 2023)

Brentford returned to winning ways with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Burnley at Gtech Community Stadium.

In the victory, Yoane Wissa poked Brentford ahead during a first half of near total dominance in west London.

Burnley offered slightly more after the break, but superb late strikes from Bryan Mbeumo and Saman Ghoddos, either side of Connor Roberts' dismissal, secured the victory.

Mbeumo’s goal was a curling effort into the top corner from 20 yards, while Ghoddos sent a half-volley flying past James Trafford in the closing minutes.