In midweek, the Bees defeated Newport County on penalties, while Andoni Iraola’s team triumphed in a five-goal thriller against Swansea City.

Match preview

For over 90 minutes of Newport’s EFL Cup match against Brentford on Tuesday, the game at Rodney Parade was better left in the past, before substitute Mathias Jensen appeared to have done enough to put Thomas Frank’s team into the third round.

Kiban Rai nodded home from Adam Lewis’s cross in injury time to draw the League Two side level, but his courageous header only delayed Brentford’s triumph, as goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe saved two penalties to enable his team win the shootout.

Brentford’s nervy shootout victory extended their unbeaten streak following a five-point haul from their first three Premier League games in a typically respectable start to proceedings.

However, after failing to hold onto a small lead against Tottenham Hotspur, the Bees suffered a similar fate against Crystal Palace last weekend, drawing first blood through a superb Kevin Schade strike before Joachim Andersen’s tight-angle equalizer.

With 35 games remaining in the Premier League season, Brentford will look to extend their unbeaten Premier League run to seven games, and they have not been held at bay at home since October – a run of 15 games with at least one goal at the Gtech.

While Brentford were almost left to rue a late goal at Rodney Parade, Bournemouth benefited from an injury-time strike against Swansea, who needed only nine minutes to draw first blood through Matt Grimes’ penalty before David Brooks leveled with his first goal since overcoming cancer.

As penalties loomed, Hamed Traore and Jamie Paterson exchanged second-half chances, but not long after the fourth official’s board went up, Ryan Christie struck the game’s fifth and final goal, setting up a third-round clash with another Championship opponent, Stoke City.

Christie’s last-gasp effort saw recently-appointed head coach Andoni Iraola claim his first victory in the Cherries hotseat at the fourth attempt, having overseen a discouraging start to the Premier League season with only one point taken from their first three outings.

During last weekend’s match against Tottenham Hotspur, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski poured on the Bournemouth parade with goals either side of halftime to inflict a 2-0 loss on Iraola’s team, dropping them to 16th in the table at this early point.

A record of six losses and a draw in their last seven Premier League matches does not inspire confidence ahead of a trip south, nor does conceding at least twice in each of their last three matches, but the bad omens do not end there for Bournemouth, who have only beaten Brentford once in their last seven meetings.

Team News

Balcombe’s 12-yard heroics in the EFL Cup came during Thomas Strakosha’s absence due to an injury, while Danish forward Mikkel Damsgaard has also missed Brentford’s last two games owing to an adductor problem.

Damsgaard is confirmed to be out, while Josh Dasilva (thigh) and Shandon Baptiste (shoulder) are out indefinitely, and Ivan Toney still has four and a half months left on his sentence.

Despite his key contributions against Newport, Balcombe will be replaced in goal by Mark Flekken, while the well-rested Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa will return to form their formidable attacking third tandem.

Meanwhile, none of Bournemouth’s seven known absentees should be back in action before the international break, as new arrivals Tyler Adams and Alex Scott continue to wait for their debuts due to knee and thigh problems respectively.

Ryan Fredericks (calf), Emiliano Marcondes (ankle), Dango Ouattara (ankle), Marcus Tavernier and Adam Smith (both unspecified) complete the visitors’ injury list – the latter two are now back in partial training – but a couple of goalscorers from midweek have certainly made a case to come in from the start in the Premier League.

Indeed, both Brooks and Traore – the former of whom also brought up 100 appearances for the club against Swansea – should come into Iraola’s thinking, but established names such as Neto, Lewis Cook, Milos Kerkez and Dominic Solanke will all return.

Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Hickey, Collins, Pinnock, Henry; Norgaard, Janelt, Jensen; Mbeumo, Wissa, Schade

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Neto; Aarons, Zabarnyi, Kelly, Kerkez; Cook, Billing; Brooks, Christie, Semenyo; Solanke

We say: Brentford 3-1 Bournemouth

A clear failure to keep the back door shut could cost Bournemouth dearly at a ground where Brentford require no lessons in offensive domination, as Iraola’s men are immediately sent tumbling back down to earth.

The Cherries may have a glimmer of hope on the attacking front, but the Bees’ strong weaponry should be too much for the Cherries to handle.