‘Unfortunately’ – Thomas Frank rules out Brentford star against Everton and could be missing 8 players..
Brentford injury news ahead of the Premier League clash against Everton at the Gtec Community Stadium.
Everton turn their attention to a trip to Brentford as they aim to stretch their unbeaten run in the Premier League to seven matches
The Toffees were by far the better team against Manchester United last weekend and were cruising for 70 minutes. First-half goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure put David Moyes’ troops in control – but they squandered their advantage. A Bruno Fernandes free-kick gave United a lifeline before Manuel Ugarte fired home the equaliser. Then in stoppage-time, Everton were awarded a penalty for a foul on Ashley Young – only for referee Andy Madley to controversially overturn his decision following a VAR review – and the game finished 2-2.
It felt like a defeat for Everton but that underlines how much progress they have made since Moyes’ return as manager. The Blues find themselves 14 points above the Premier League relegation zone.
But they have a tricky clash at Brentford on Wednesday evening. The Bees are 11th in the table and that is largely down to their form at the Gtech Community Stadium. They have the sixth-best home record this season and they head into the game after a 4-0 triumph at Leicester City.
Brentford were without Mathias Jensen for the win, however. The Denmark international has made 18 appearances in all competitions this season – but has already been ruled out of the Everton game. Boss Thomas Frank said via the club website: “He’s got a minor adductor injury, unfortunately. Wednesday will be too soon, but we’ll see beyond that”
Brentford team news
Jensen is one of eight players who could be absent for Brentford. Sepp van den Berg has been a regular starter for the Bees since joining from Liverpool last summer. However, the Dutchman has a knee issue and will be unavailable for the coming weeks. Frank said before the Leicester win: “Sepp got a minor knee injury. It’s good news. You’re always a little bit worried with the knee, but it’s a minor one and we’re talking about weeks instead of months.
“How many weeks, it depends on how quick he is recovering. Straight after the game I was hoping it was a minor one, so I’d say it’s as positive as it can be.”
Christian Norgaard was forced off at half-time against Leicester because of illness. It remains to be seen whether the Brentford captain is over his issue. Aaron Hickey, Rico Hendery (both hamstring), Josh Dasilva, Igor Thiago (both knee) and Gustavo Nunes (back) are all longer-term absentees.
On the win over Brentford, Frank said: “It was a very, very good win, of course,” said Frank. “It’s difficult to win in the Premier League, difficult to win away from home, and the way we did it 4-0 is very impressive.
“We did what we didn’t manage to do last weekend against West Ham in the first half, which was more or less killing the game off. It was very impressive, the way we went forward, we look so dangerous with our front four; the runners of Kevin [Schade] and Bryan [Mbeumo], but also [Yoane] Wissa and the creator in Mikkel Damsgaard behind.”
