West Ham United v Brentford
Premier League, London Stadium, Friday 30 December 2022, 7.45pm GMT
West Ham United take to the pitch for the final time of 2022 on Friday night when they welcome Brentford for a London Stadium derby duel.
A year which brought a UEFA Europa League semi-final, unforgettable victories over Sevilla and Lyon, a second successive European qualification through league position and countless memories comes to a conclusion against the Bees - with David Moyes' men eyeing a victory which could lift them into mid-table.
The Hammers returned from the FIFA World Cup break with a 3-1 defeat at Arsenal on Boxing Day, in a game which the two halves provided contrasting outcomes.
Former Bee Saïd Benrahma's first-half penalty had given the visitors the lead against the table-toppers, only for Mikel Arteta's men to come roaring back after the interval with goals from Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nektiah.
The result left West Ham 16th in the table with 14 points from 16 games - six points and six places below Friday's opponents.
Thomas Frank's side arrive in east London with a record of four wins, four defeats and eight draws, with their first game back ending all-square at 2-2 against Tottenham Hotspur, also on Boxing Day.
A minute's applause will be held before kick-off in tribute to the late, great Brazil forward Pelé, who passed away on Thursday, aged 82.
Tickets...
Tickets for this sold out game are available on the Ticket Exchange, with Season Ticket Holders who cannot attend this fixture relisting their seats for other supporters to buy. Click here to check availability or relist.
Travel...
On the London Underground network, the Central and Jubilee lines are set to serve Stratford as normal on Friday.
However, supporters who use the Elizabeth line should note that there is no service between Whitechapel and Shenfield. Replacement buses will operate.
On National Rail, there are no services between Ingatestone and London Liverpool Street due to engineering works. Replacement buses will run from Ingatestone to Newbury Park to connect with the Central line.
Southeastern services from Kent to Stratford International are planned to run as usual.
Click here for the latest from Transport for London and here for National Rail.
How to Follow...
Friday's game will not broadcast live on television in the UK, but will be shown across the world by the Premier League's international broadcast partners.
You can listen to commentary in the UK on talkSPORT, BBC Radio London 94.9FM and on whufc.com and our official app.
You can also follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle.
Team News...
The Hammers were without Gianluca Scamacca and Nayef Aguerd for the Boxing Day trip to Arsenal and David Moyes will continue to monitor their fitness ahead of the visit of the Bees.
Kurt Zouma (knee) and Maxwel Cornet (calf) have also been absent in recent weeks.
For Brentford, midfielders Frank Onyeka (thigh) and Shandon Baptiste (groin), defenders Kristoffer Ajer (knee) and Aaron Hickey (ankle), and goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha (ankle) all sat out the draw with Tottenham due to injury.
The Opposition...
Brentford have made light work of the jump to the Premier League over the past year and a half, but the Bees’ impressive top-flight return after a 64-year absence was just the continuation of an impressive rise that began just ten years ago.
When you take a step back and realise promotion from EFL League One came just under a decade ago, their rise through the English football pyramid has been nothing short of remarkable. The club followed promotion under Mark Warburton in 2013 with seven Championship campaigns, where the Bees never finished lower than eleventh.
And, having narrowly missed out in the previous season via a Play-off final defeat by Fulham in 2020, Brentford were promoted to the top flight a year later. A Wembley win over Swansea City fired them to the Premier League for the first time and they have hardly looked back since.
Last season, a 13th-placed finish – with 13 wins – saw Brentford impress many in their debut Premier League campaign. And halfway through the 2022/23 season, it has been more of the same, as the Bees sat tenth ahead of the mid-season break for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. They had also beaten both Manchester sides by an aggregate score of 6-1 before the turn of the year.
Still, the Bees’ success on the field tells half the story of the revolutionary work that has taken place in west London over the past decade. While in the Championship, Brentford became one of the first sides to use data as their main tool for player recruitment and scouting. What followed, though, was even more radical– the club closing its Academy and setting up a B Team.
Instead of an Academy, Brentford has invested in a vast scouting network. Rather than look at wins and losses the club has embraced Key Performance Metrics (KPMs) to determine player and club performance. By using this method, Brentford have been able to scout players who were undervalued in terms of their price point when purchased. In effect, spotting talent before anyone else did.
They then took a gamble, and if the player performed, the Bees raked in the profits as their value rocketed. If they didn’t, the loss was minimal.
The results have followed too. Brentford made an estimated £100m from the sales of stars Saïd Benrahma, Ollie Watkins and Neil Maupay. Ivan Toney, then 2020 EFL League One Player of the Year, was brought for around £10m. You would have to say he is worth a fair bit more than that in today’s market.
Of course, there is a real importance to such financial success off the field. Profits from players are key for clubs such as Brentford to retain a competitive squad that can hold its own in the top-flight. And since their arrival in the Premier League, the Bees, under Thomas Frank, have shown they can compete too.
But West Ham United know this well. Last season, the Bees won the first two Premier League meetings between the sides – 2-1 in east London and 2-0 at their new Community Stadium. It is a run David Moyes and company will seek to end at London Stadium on Friday.
Talking Tactics...
When looking at how to deal with Brentford there is no doubt that opposition clubs focus on how to stop Ivan Toney.
If there was any doubting the Bees’ forward’s quality, then a trip to the Etihad Stadium in the final match before the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals confirmed what most already knew.
In a 2-1 win at Manchester City, Toney was at his clinical best, striking a brace in a deserved win over the champions. It was brave showing from the striker, although that word could largely be applied to Brentford’s approach since promotion to the top-tier in 2021.
Under Thomas Frank, Brentford have been aggressive. They press with relentless intensity, while their fluidity with a back-three (3-5-2) – or now more commonly a back-four (4-3-3) – allows players the cover and confidence to commit to such a forward-thinking press. At points, they will hound their opponent, win the ball high up the pitch, and then score from successful transitions.
In particular, this gameplan was masterfully executed against Manchester United, where Brentford’s press caught the Red Devils cold, and resulted in a 4-0 win – a result that was arguably their finest in the Premier League, until they made the trip to the Etihad Stadium in November.
That transitional quality aside, the quality on the ball from goalkeeper David Raya means Brentford are able to build from the back comfortably. They can also catch sides out with a quicker more direct pass from the man between the sticks. Such different lines of attack – whether in possession or in transition – mean it is difficult to stop Brentford in one-way. While many thought it might be a case of second-season syndrome for the west Londoners, victories over Manchester United and Manchester City show the Bees remain in fine health.
Previous Meetings...
Friday's game will be just the third Premier League fixture between the two clubs, with Brentford having won home and away against the Hammers in their debut Premier League campaign last term.
Prior to that, the most-recent meetings came back in the 1992/93 season, when both clubs were in the old First Division (now the Championship).
West Ham were promoted that season, having drawn 0-0 at Brentford's old Griffin Park stadium before thrashing the Bees 4-0 at the Boleyn Ground, where Martin Allen, Peter Butler, Trevor Morley and Kevin Keen got the goals for Billy Bonds' Hammers.
Our first-ever meeting came all the way back on 11 September 1897, when Thames Ironworks FC, as we were then known, won a London League fixture 1-0 at the Memorial Grounds, with Scotsman Jimmy Reid getting the only goal of the game in front of 1,000 spectators.
Match Officials...
Referee: Darren England
Assistant Referees: James Mainwaring and Steven Meredith
Fourth Official: David Coote
VAR: John Brooks
Assistant VAR: Simon Long
Friday's referee is 37-year-old Yorkshireman Darren England.
Born in Doncaster, England worked in Barnsley FC's community department as a football development officer before becoming a referee in 2012.
He was promoted to the National List of EFL referees in 2015, having previously assisted, before being added to the Select Group 2 of Championship and Premier League match officials in 2017.
England also took charge of the EFL League Two Play-Off final between Blackpool and Exeter City in May 2017.
He was promoted again to Select Group 1 for the Premier League at the start of the 2020/21 season, and this will be his fourth West Ham game as the man in the middle.
His last Hammers appointment came nearly a year to the day, as David Moyes' men kicked off 2022 with a 3-2 win at Crystal Palace.
