Match Preview: Brentford vs. Crystal Palace – Premier League
London’s Brentford will welcome Crystal Palace to the Gtech Community Stadium to open the 2024 Premier League season, scheduled for August 18. Each of the clubs hopes to get off to a fast start after a season in which they had diverging years.
Key Stats & Insights
Last Meeting: In the previous encounter, during the 2023/24 season, Crystal Palace ran out 3-1 winners over Brentford.
Recent Form: Brentford had a mixed set of results in the preseason, most notably the 4-4 draw against Wolfsburg, while Crystal Palace found form at the tail end of last campaign, with six wins from their final seven matches under Oliver Glasner.
Head to Head: Of the last five encounters between both sides, Crystal Palace has triumphed once, and the other four games ended as draws.
Team Form and Performance
Brentford: After a poor season that saw them finish 16th last term, Brentford may have added to their squad but have suffered numerous injuries. Their record signing of the summer, Igor Thiago, is out for a long-term knee injury, to add to the absences of Josh Dasilva, Rico Henry, and Aaron Hickey. It is still Ivan Toney leading up top, though he has been linked with a move away from the club many times this summer.
Crystal Palace: Rejuvenated under new manager Oliver Glasner, the Eagles completed last season strongly and have managed to keep most of their star players, despite selling Michael Olise to Bayern Munich. In have come Daichi Kamada and Ismaila Sarr to bolster the attack, with Jean-Philippe Mateta remaining a key figure after a successful Olympic campaign.
Odds Market Analysis
Brentford to win: 6/4
Draw: 5/2
Crystal Palace win: 2/1
While Brentford are slight favourites with home advantage, Crystal Palace’s better finish to last season and stability under Glasner will mean a strong contender for maybe taking all three points.
Prediction: With Crystal Palace’s strong end to last season and perhaps Brentford a little jaded after that injury list, this has Palace 2-1 written all over it. Those stats are even more in favour of the visitors when looking at Brentford’s poor record against top-half teams last season.