Brentford vs. Sheffield Wednesday – prediction, team news, lineups
The Gtech Community Stadium faithful will be praying for a calmer affair when their beloved Brentford side host Sheffield Wednesday in the last 16 of the EFL Cup on Tuesday.
The Bees seek a place in the quarter-finals after Saturday’s mesmerising 4-3 Premier League triumph over Ipswich Town, while their Championship counterparts earned their own one-goal triumph away to Portsmouth at the weekend.
Death, taxes, and goal-laden extravaganzas at the Gtech Community Stadium. A couple of weeks on from sharing an extraordinary eight goals at home with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brentford served up an equally unforgettable spectacle with Ipswich on October 26.
From 2-0 down to 3-2 up, Thomas Frank’s side were ostensibly resigned to picking up just one point when super sub Liam Delap sent the away end into bedlam, only for Bryan Mbeumo’s cross from the right to evade everyone – including Ipswich goalkeeper Arijanet Muric – and cap off an unbelievable victory for the buzzing Bees.
While Brentford’s backline did not earn many plaudits, two-goal Mbeumo – who only trails Erling Haaland in the Premier League’s Golden Boot race – and fellow brace-scorer Yoane Wissa continued to prove that the Bees’ attack remains prolifically potent in the post-Ivan Toney era.
Frank’s side coincidentally also had to come from behind to make it this far in the EFL Cup, reversing a 1-0 deficit against Leyton Orient to prevail 3-1 in round three, and that success is one of five that Brentford have achieved in six home games in all competitions this term.
Furthermore, not since the 2010-11 campaign have Brentford fallen at the last-16 stage of the EFL Cup, with that defeat coming on penalties against Birmingham City, who memorably went on to conquer the competition that year – promising omens for Sheffield Wednesday if they can spring a surprise here.