Fourth-place in the Premier League table Chelsea make the five-mile trip along the Thames to Kew Bridge for a 7.30pm kick-off at Brentford, who are back in the top half after Friday’s home win against Graham Potter’s former side, Brighton.

It is the second of half-a-dozen west London derbies to be played in the Premier League this season and a second successive away league game for Potter’s resurgent Blues, victors over Aston Villa on Sunday.

Chelsea have won five in a row in all competitions, are unbeaten in six and have conceded only twice under the new coach, winning all three in the top flight since his arrival. There are precedents: four of the seven Premier League coaches who won their first four matches did so at Stamford Bridge: Jose Mourinho (2004), Guus Hiddink (2009), Carlo Ancelotti (2009) and Maurizio Sarri (2018).

• Look at last training here

• Potter gives his view on the Bees

• Why writing off Mount is daft

This is the Blues’ sixth away trip of the league campaign, each up to now producing a different scoreline, compared to just four so far at the Bridge. Still, Chelsea have won nine of our past 10 away derby matches in the Premier League, managing seven clean sheets in that run.

Chelsea team news

Outside Mason Mount’s finishing and the saves of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Sunday’s victory against Aston Villa did not produce many talking points. Yet the Spain custodian put in what is widely regarded as the best display between the sticks since Edou Mendy in tonight’s fixture last season.

Kepa needs one more shut-out to reach 50 for the club, and a fifth consecutive win with none conceded would be our best run since Petr Cech was between the sticks in January/February 2007.

With no fresh injuries but player ages and workloads to consider, Graham Potter can revisit the best way to handle the long-term absences of Wes Fofana, Reece James and N’Golo Kante. In particular, there is no like-for-like replacement for James and his ability to lock down the whole right side, contributing to the Blues’ improved attacking performances and fewer efforts on goal conceded.

Until half-time at Villa Park, the Solihull-born coach had Raheem Sterling at wing-back and Marc Cucurella at left centre-back, moving Ruben Loftus-Cheek to the right after the break and bringing on Kalidou Koulibaly to shore up central defence.

Further effective tweaks and substitutions confirmed the coach’s problem-solving skills and he will weigh up his options to face what is likely to be a confident Brentford front two tonight.

At the other end of the pitch Chelsea will want to see some of hesitant and inattentive Bees defending, evident when they faced Arsenal and Newcastle. Mount arrives in hot form, having a hand in four goals in his past two Premier League outings.

Combined goals and assists in all competitions 2022/23

Bees buzzing again

Brentford’s Community Stadium is known as the Hive and the buzz was back after the 2-0 defeat of Brighton last Friday. Earlier in the season there they beat Man United 4-0 and knuckled Leeds 5-2, though more recently Arsenal won 3-0.

Thomas Frank, celebrating his fourth anniversary as the Bee-keeper, generally sets up in a 4-3-3 formation, or 3-5-2 when facing top-six sides, each designed to play to the strengths of his team. They are very dogged defensively but break rapidly and directly, committing numbers forward, then pressing high and blocking passes through the middle. That is a wall Chelsea will aim to breach to expose the lack of defensive personnel behind.

Their dangerous frontline is led by in-form finisher Ivan Toney, who has netted six goals in his last five games and thrives on intermittent moments of brilliance rather than long periods of pressure. The Bees’ three matches with lowest ball possession (27 per cent against Brighton, 33 Man United and Leeds) have delivered their only league victories.

Only Bournemouth (4.8 per game) have created fewer shots from open play this season than the Bees (6.5), who lean heavily on set-play routines. Only Newcastle, Manchester City and Liverpool have produced more shots from such situations. That said, they have conceded five times from set-pieces and scored four. Another siege weapon, midfielder Mathias Jensen’s long throw, led to a penalty against Brighton.

Injuries rule out regular centre-back and skipper Pontus Jansson as well as tenacious defensive midfielder Christian Norgaard.

The WLD

Fulham’s return to the top flight this season ensured there would be six west London derbies in the Premier League, and the Whites won the first of those, a 3-2 victory at Craven Cottage over Brentford, who were elevated to the top division for the first time in 74 years in 2021.

In beating the Bees on our maiden flight at this ground last season Chelsea became the first team in the top four tiers of English football to win seven consecutive away London derbies, conceding only once in that run.

The Blues have again won successive away league matches (both at Crystal Palace) in the capital since losing at West Ham in December. Last season the away side won all three meetings between Chelsea and Brentford across all competitions.

Premier League west London derbies 1992-22

As things stand…

With almost a quarter of our season played Chelsea have collected more points at his stage than in four of the past seven seasons, and the same number as in our last title-winning campaign, 2016/17.

With 10 goals conceded the Blues, along with Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham, have the second-best defensive record in the top flight behind Newcastle’s nine.

Chelsea have not conceded a goal on any front since the seventh minute at Crystal Palace, more then seven-and-a-half hours of football ago, and have won four league games in a row with a clean sheet for the first time since December 2016.

The scoreline at Aston Villa meant the world champions have also scored two or more goals in each of the past five consecutive wins across all competitions.

Silva lining

Chelsea’s Unseen Extra video clip from Villa Park (which can be watched below) picked up an overlooked but vital moment before Mason Mount’s decisive free kick. As the midfielder prepared to shoot, Thiago Silva lined up 10 yards behind him, directing two team-mates in front of the Villans’ wall where best to stand in order to obscure Emi Martinez’s sight of the ball. Crucially, this meant the goalkeeper took a step right before diving left as Mount’s fizzer hit the net.

Looking ahead…

Back-to-back wins against Italian champions AC Milan in Group E have handed Chelsea the keys to the knockout stage. A win this time next week in Salzburg would start the engine.

Before that showdown the Bundesliga-leaders host second-placed Sturm Graz on Saturday in a game that could help decide the championship.

Matchweek 12 Premier League results and fixtures

Tuesday 18 October Premier League results

• Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0

• Crystal Palace 2 Wolves 1

Wednesday 19 October Premier League fixtures

• Bournemouth v Southampton 7.30pm

• Brentford v Chelsea 7.30pm

• Liverpool v West Ham 7.30pm

• Newcastle v Everton 7.30pm

• Man Utd v Tottenham 8.15pm

Thursday 20 October Premier League fixtures

• Fulham v Aston Villa 7.30pm

• Leicester v Leeds 8.15pm