Brentford head to Norwich City this Saturday looking to arrest a run of poor form as they seek their first Premier League win since January 2 and their first away from home since October 3.
The two sides have been in poor form as of late and it is a game that could be both construed as a must-win and must not-lose for the Canaries and Bees.
Last week saw another home defeat for Thomas Frank's side, with Newcastle United taking all three points through goals from Joelinton and Joe Willock. Brentford's cause wasn't helped by Josh Dasilva's red card after only 11 minutes following a VAR check, which all but ended the Bees' hopes of getting all three points.
More notably, it saw Frank change formation for the first time this season. Having played 3-5-2 from April last year up until the defeat at Arsenal, the Bees decided to go four at the back with the formation Frank deploying appearing to be 4-4-2 with Dasilva and Mathias Jensen operating the flanks with Christian Norgaard and Vitaly Janelt operating in the middle.
Everything was going well for the first 10 minutes up until Dasilva's moment of madness, and going down to 10 men exposed Brentford's weaknesses massively. Kristoffer Ajer, playing at RB, was constantly targeted by Ryan Fraser, with the Scot proving unplayable on the day.
If Frank decides to stick with four at the back and go 4-3-3, Mbeumo would most likely operate on the right hand side ahead of Ajer. The Norwegian would be helped by the Frenchman, due to his persistent workrate and endless tracking back so that is one area to keep an eye ahead of the trip to Norfolk.
In midfield, Norgaard and Janelt are almost automatic inclusions, but could Christian Eriksen join them in a midfield trio? The Dane made his long-awaited return to professional football last weekend, but it remains to be seen whether Frank will hand him his first start in Brentford colours.
Ivan Toney is all but certain to return to the starting XI on Saturday, and it is important he gets his mojo back ahead of a massive two months for him and the team, as Brentford aim to preserve their Premier League status for next season.
Here's how Football.London thinks Brentford will line-up this Saturday at Carrow Road - predict your preferred starting XI.
Predicted Brentford XI vs Norwich City: Raya; Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock, Henry; Eriksen, Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Toney, Wissa.
Squad: Fernandez, Lössl, Zanka, Roerslev, Onyeka, Jensen, Baptiste, Ghoddos, Canos.
