Thomas Frank revealed Brentford's 'secret sauce' to their success this season. Thomas Frank revealed Brentford's 'secret sauce' to their success this season.

Thomas Frank revealed that Brentford’s “secret sauce” is about the people within the clubtayabet, but is hoping that the Bees’ recent success can inspire a first away win of the season. (More Football News)

Brentford continued their impressive form at the Gtech Community Stadium with a 4-2 win over Newcastle United last time out, with Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, Nathan Collins and Kevin Schade on target.

Their latest home win saw them triumph in five successive home league games for the first time since February 2021 in the Championship, while it’s the first time the Bees have done so in the top-flight since Christmas Day 1936 (run of nine).

But Frank’s side have taken just one point from their seven away games this term, and the Brentford boss is hoping for a first victory on the road this season against London rivals Chelsea on Sunday.

"I would like to carry on this home form - some wins on the road would be welcome too,” Frank said. "The players are growing, a lot of the players here for a while have taken another step up.

Defending champions India will now face off against China, who beat Pakistan in the first semi-final.

Earlier in the match, a raucous crowd gave the Chinese players full support as they faced a formidable Pakistan. The game started slow with both teams struggling to find space in each other's defence. However, China kept control of the ball and made more attacks than Pakistan.

“There are a few narratives about Brentford, most of them are positive. “I think the ‘secret sauce’ is the people at the club. It’s people who create the culture - and culture beats everything.

“The culture that we’ve built together over the years is, in my opinion, incredible. If you want to go quick, go alone; if you want to go far, then you go together.

“That culture is built on what I would call the path to success: passion, attitude, togetherness and hard work.

“Yes, data is important, but all the indicators of high performance are culture, people, togetherness and teamwork. That’s the secret sauce we have."

Sunday night at Stamford BridgeNext: Chelsea (A) pic.twitter.com/sxaguqb5yi

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) December 12, 2024

Chelsea, meanwhile, were involved in midweek action in the Europa Conference League, making the 16-hour round trip to Kazakhstan to face Astana, winning 3-1 on Thursday.

The Blues maintained their perfect record in the competition and booked their place in the last 16 with their latest victory, inspired by a youthful side that battled the freezing temperatures at the Ortalyq Stadion. 

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca labelled the victory as a “solid performance”, lauding teenage trio Josh Acheampong, Samuel Rak-Sakyi and Tyrique George for their contributions.

"It was a solid performance," said Maresca. "We knew it was quite cold, and we tried to adapt quickly.

"The players did fantastically with the weather conditions, the long journey yesterday, and the pitch was not ideal for us. Overall, I’m very happy for the players.

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"I’m also happy for the young players who helped us win the game. I was impressed by all of them. The ones who started, Tyrique [George], Sam [Rak-Sakyi] and Josh [Acheampong] all did very good.

"So I’m very happy for them and the ones that came on in the second half, I’m pleased."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Chelsea – Cole Palmer

Palmer has been involved in 38 Premier League goals in 2024 (25 goals, 13 assists), more than any other player and the most of any Chelsea player in a single calendar year in the competition.

The last player to reach 40 in a single year was Mohamed Salah in 2018 (40), while the last Englishman to do so was Harry Kane in 2017 (46).

12 - Cole Palmer has scored all 12 of his penalties in the Premier League; the best 100% record of any player in the competition (overtaking Yaya Touré's 11/11). Cold. pic.twitter.com/pTsnOj1g8l

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 8, 2024

Brentford – Bryan Mbeumo

After a difficult couple of weeks, Mbeumo got himself back among the goals during Brentford’s win over Newcastle and will be keen to continue his run of form at Stamford Bridge.

He has scored nine Premier League goals for Brentford this season, his joint-most in a single campaign (also nine in both 2022-23 and 2023-24). No Cameroonian has ever scored 10 goals in a single campaign in the competition.

MATCH PREDICTION: CHELSEA WIN

Chelsea have won each of their last four Premier League games, and the last three while scoring three or more goals in each. Only once before in the Blues’ history have they scored 3+ goals in four consecutive top-flight games, doing so between November and December 1954 under Ted Drake.

Despite being the highest scorers in the Premier League this season with 35 goals, Chelsea have scored almost twice as many of these away from home (23) as they have at Stamford Bridge (12).

After winning their first Premier League meeting with Brentford, the Blues are since winless in their last five against them (D2 L3), with all three defeats coming at Stamford Bridge.

Brentford, meanwhile, have won all three of their Premier League away games against Chelsea. The last team to win four consecutive top-flight away games against the Blues were Leeds United (6 between 1973 and 1991).

The Bees have scored 31 and conceded 28 goals in the Premier League this season. Should they concede twice against Chelsea, they will be just the second side to reach both 30 goals scored and conceded in their opening 16 matches of a season in the competition, after Leeds United in 2020-21.

None of the six Premier League meetings between Chelsea and Brentford have been won by the home side (D2 L4) – only Bournemouth vs Watford (10) has been played more often without ever seeing a home win.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Chelsea – 67.3%

Draw – 17.6%

Brentford – 15%tayabet