Brentford vs West Ham Prediction: Back another fast start to this entertaining London derby

It's only the sixth round of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign but West Ham United are already preparing for their fourth London derby of the season as they take a trip from east to west London to take on Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday (15:00).

Read below for my Brentford vs West Ham prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this meeting between Thomas Frank and Julen Lopetegui.

Team News

Brentford remain without a host of first-team stars including Yoane Wissa, Igor Thiago, Mathias Jensen, Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry, but Frank is "confident" that Danish midfielder Christian Norgaard, who missed last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, will be fit to return to action.

Summer signing Fabio Carvalho was paired in attack with Bryan Mbuemo in north London and could get the nod again on Saturday alongside Keane Lewis-Potter, although Kevin Schade is pushing for a start after making back-to-back substitute appearances in the Premier League.

Football Odds

West Ham are without the suspended Edson Alvarez as the Mexican midfielder serves a one-game ban for the red card he received in Wednesday's 5-1 Carabao Cup hammering at Liverpool, where Lopetegui made seven changes to his starting XI.

Alvarez, Max Kilman, Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville were the only four to keep their spots; Bowen and Kilman are certain starters on Saturday but Alvarez will miss out and Summerville could drop to the bench, with Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta restored to the lineup, and Michail Antonio in line for a recall.

Alphonse Areola, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Emerson and Guido Rodriguez should all return to the team, with Tomas Soucek and Jean-Clair Todibo potentially earning another start, despite the latter's horror show at Anfield.

Brentford vs West Ham Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Brentford vs West Ham page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Brentford are 6/5 to beat West Ham in the Premier League for the fourth season in a row at the Gtech, giving the Bees an implied win probability of 45.5%, while the Irons are 11/5, or a 31.3% chance, to secure a first-ever competitive victory there.

There hasn't been a stalemate between the two sides since the first-ever meeting in December 1992, when they played out a goalless draw at Brentford, but you can bet against history by backing the draw at 13/5.

Both teams to score is 8/15 and over 2.5 total goals is 8/13, while Mbuemo (6/4) is favourite to score anytime, followed by Bowen and Schade (both 2/1).

Both Teams to Score in First Half - Yes @ 11/4

Both head-to-heads between the two teams last season produced plenty of goals, with five struck in a 3-2 home win for Brentford last November and six served up at the London Stadium in February as West Ham triumphed 4-2 thanks in no small part to a hat-trick from Bowen.

The home side made a fast start in both matches - Neal Maupay opened the scoring for the Bees in the 11th minute at the Gtech, while it took Bowen just five minutes to net West Ham's first in east London, and another two to bag a brace - with the visitors also quickly responding. Kudus equalised for the Irons eight minutes after Maupay struck in west London, and the Frenchman was also on target for Brentford in the first half of the reverse fixture, finding the net eight minutes after Bowen's first.

I think we could be in for another fast start on Saturday with neither side's defence looking imperious. Both teams have conceded nine Premier League goals across their first five matches, but Brentford and West Ham have also scored in all but one, netting seven and five times respectively.

Brentford have struck in the first half in four of their games, only failing to do so in a 2-0 defeat at Liverpool last month, but they've also conceded before the interval in three of their contests. There's been a goal for either side in the first 45 minutes of their last two as they opened the scoring at Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur before heading into half-time 2-1 down in both.

West Ham, meanwhile, have scored in the first half of a game on two occasions in the Premier League this term and conceded before half-time in four of them. Both teams have scored in the first half twice - in home defeats to Aston Villa (1-2) and Man City (1-3) - as well as in their Carabao Cup exit at Liverpool on Wednesday, where they took the lead through a Jarell Quansah own-goal before Diogo Jota levelled things up.

Considering the porous defences on show on Saturday, I think 11/4 is a good price to back both teams to find the net in the first half at the Gtech.

First Goal Scorer - Bryan Mbuemo (BRE) @ 5/1

Mbuemo has scored four of Brentford's seven Premier League goals so far this season, with strike partner Wissa netting the other three.

However, Wissa has been sidelined for the past two matches and will miss out again this weekend, meaning the goal-scoring responsibility is firmly on the shoulders of Mbuemo.

The Frenchman rose to the occasion last weekend, firing the opening goal of the game inside the first minute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - the third time this season he has netted first, also doing so at the Gtech against Crystal Palace and Southampton.

Mbuemo also has a fabulous record against this Saturday's opponents, scoring in three of the five matches he has featured in versus the Irons - and all three have been the opening effort of the game.

In my opinion, 5/1 is a terrific price to back the 25-year-old to grab the first goal for the fourth time in six appearances against the Bees' London rivals.

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