Brentford vs Birmingham City; Sky Bet Championship
Brentford vs Birmingham City. Sky Bet Championship.
Griffin ParkAttendance11,332.
Brentford vs Birmingham preview
Monday 20 April 2020 09:21, UK
Brentford could hand debuts to a string of new signings in their Championship opener against Birmingham.
Pontus Jansson and Mathias Jensen are in contention to start the Griffin Park encounter. The clash may come too soon for new recruit Joel Valencia, with the Ecuadorian winger having only arrived at the club this week.
French forward Neal Maupay is expected to be omitted having not featured at all in pre-season, with Brighton reportedly leading the race for his signature.
Agustin Medina and Ivan Guzman will be gearing up for their competitive debuts for Birmingham. The Spanish midfielders are among the nucleus of new arrivals itching to get going at the St Andrew's outfit.
England Under-21 captain Jake Clarke-Salter should feature as well, as he kick-starts his season-long loan from Chelsea. Former Arsenal academy midfielder Dan Crowley is another new face who will be pushing for inclusion.
Opta stats
Brentford are unbeaten in their last five league matches against Birmingham (W3 D2 L0) since losing 1-2 in November 2016.
Birmingham have lost just one of their last 10 away league games against Brentford (W5 D4 L1), a 0-5 hammering in February 2018 under Steve Cotterill.
Brentford haven't lost at home on the opening day of a league season since August 1992 (0-2 vs Wolves), winning six and drawing three such games since then.
Birmingham are looking for their first away league win on the opening day since August 1998, when they won 2-0 at Port Vale; they've drawn four and lost seven since.
Only the two automatically promoted sides Norwich City and Sheffield United (both 49) won more home Championship points last season than Brentford (46).
Birmingham are looking to win three consecutive away league games in London for the first time since April 1990 - they have started their league season with an away game in London on 14 previous occasions, winning only once (W1 D4 L9), a 2-1 win at Spurs in August 1946.
