Chelsea moved to within two points of Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday, as they held on late to beat Brentford 2-1 at Stamford Bridge and officially announce themselves as title contenders.
WATCH LIVE — Chelsea vs Brentford
Marc Cucurella and Nicolas Jackson got the goals for Chelsea (2nd - 34 points) before Bryan Mbeumo zoomed past everyone in blue to set up a frantic finish. Brentford (11th - 23 points) remain in the madness that is the middle of the table this season. A late equalizer, only to rescue a point, would have seen them finish the weekend four places higher, in 7th.
From matchweek 16, a title contender emerges
Let’s rewind just a few short months, back to the summer of 2024. You know the time — Chelsea had just hired the guy from Leicester (in the Championship) and announced their 11th signing of the summer (26th of the calendar year, roughly), and everyone was wondering the same thing, “What are they going to do with all of those players?” Challenge for the Premier League title in Enzo Maresca’s first season at the club, apparently. Right place, right time with Manchester City in freefall, Liverpool far from infallible and Arsenal well off the pace for going on two months now. Somebody is going to win the title this season, and right now Chelsea look the most interested (and confident) in doing so. Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson have 20 PL goals between them already (to go with 9 assists) and look set to somehow top what they did last season (36 goals, 16 assists). It remains to be seen whether 1) Chelsea can simply score their way to the title, as they continue to top the xG charts by a decent margin, and 2) they will settle on a consistent center back partnership.
Player ratings - Chelsea vs Brentford
What’s next?
- Brentford vs Nottingham Forest — Saturday (10 am ET)
- Everton vs Chelsea — Sunday (9 am ET)
Chelsea vs Brentford live updates - by Andy Edwards
Chelsea vs Brentford final score: 2-1
Goalscorers: Marc Cucurella (43'), Nicolas Jackson (81'), Bryan Mbeumo (90')
GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Brentford: Bryan Mbeumo zooms past everyone to set up a tense finish (90')
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Brentford: Nicolas Jackson races in behind and finishes with precision (81')
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Brentford: Marc Cucurella heads home Noni Madueke’s cross (43')
Chelsea starting lineup
Sanchez - Gusto, Adarabioyo, Colwill, Cucurella - Caicedo, Fernandez, Palmer - Madueke, Sancho, Jackson
Brentford starting lineup
Flekken - Van den Berg, Collins, Pinnock - Roerslev, Yarmolyuk, Norgaard, Damsgaard, Lewis-Potter - Mbeumo, Wissa
How to watch Chelsea vs Brentford live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 2 pm ET, Sunday (December 15)
Venue: Stamford Bridge — London
TV Channel: USA Network
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
The Blues (31 points) are now just four points behind Liverpool after the leaders had their game against Everton postponed last weekend, but Chelsea still had to go out the next day and beat Tottenham — which they did, overcoming an early 2-0 deficit for a 4-3 away win — to stay two points above Arsenal in 3rd. Cole Palmer scored twice in the game, taking his tally to 33 goals and 17 assists (50 goal involvements) in 48 games for Chelsea. Alas, Maresca wants nothing to do with title talk at this time, and rightly so. “I am quite ambitious, and the players and the club are ambitious, but if you think about things in four or five months then you can lose a bit of focus on the now,” he warned this week.
Maresca should be pleased to have the Bees at home this weekend, as Thomas Frank’s side has the best home record in the PL this season (7W-1D-0L) while scoring at will (26 goals in 8 games). On the flip side, the Bees have the joint-worst away record in the PL this season (0W-1D-6L) and often struggle to locate the goal, let alone put the ball in it (5 goals in 7 games). With just a handful of points away from home, Brentford (9th place - 23 points) would be sitting in a European spot as two points is all that separates them from Nottingham Forest in 5th. With Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, Igor Thiago and Kevin Schade all rounding into form together, Brentford’s potent attack could singlehandedly elevate them from the rest of the pack — if they can start picking up results away from home.
Chelsea team news, focus
OUT: Pedro Neto (suspension), Reece James (hamstring), Wesley Fofana (hamstring), Omari Kellyman (thigh)
Brentford team news, focus
OUT: Josh Dasilva (knee), Rico Henry (knee), Aaron Hickey (thigh), Mathias Jensen (hamstring) | QUESTIONABLE: Vitaly Janelt (undisclosed)
Chelsea vs Brentford prediction
Brentford attempt a PL-low 7.6 shots per game away from home, while facing a PL-high 22.3 shots per game (5 more than any other side). Chelsea might have 40 shots in this game. Chelsea 4-1 Brentford.
