Match Preview: Newcastle United v Brentford | OneFootball

Brentford travel to Newcastle United on Wednesday evening in the Carabao Cup quarter-final (7.45pm kick-off GMT).

The Bees are seeking a place in just their second domestic trophy semi-final ever, having beaten the Magpies to reach the final four of the same competition in December 2020.

Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the game.

PRE-MATCH ANALYSIS

Richard Cole, Playmaker Stats: Brentford can use league win to help progress in cup on Wednesday

Brentford will be facing Newcastle United once again on Wednesday, this time in the Carabao Cup, after having already enjoyed a 4-2 win over the Magpies in the Premier League this month.

That victory in the league, helped by winning goals from Nathan Collins and Kevin Schade, was Thomas Frank's first over Newcastle since Eddie Howe took charge - and now he'll be looking to do it again in quick succession.

Before that game, the Bees last won against Newcastle (then under Steve Bruce) back in December 2020 - also in a Carabao Cup quarter-final, no less. That win booked a semi-final in the 2020/21 Carabao Cup, which was Brentford's best performance in the tournament thus far.

Newcastle's December games (including that defeat to the Bees) have seen plenty of goals, with three fixtures resulting in 16 goals in total: nine goals scored and seven goals conceded - with Brentford, of course, responsible for the majority of those the Magpies have let in.

That win for Newcastle at home to Leicester City last time out gave Ruud van Nistelrooy his first defeat as Foxes boss and his first defeat as a manager since PSV lost away to Sevilla in February 2023. Importantly for the home side at the weekend, it was also the Magpies' first victory in over a month.

Jacob Murphy opened the scoring in the 30th minute with his first goal of the season, before getting his second in the 60th. Murphy's brace came after earning a pair of assists against the Bees last time out.

Brentford will certainly know all about his qualities now. In total, the 29-year-old has recorded four assists in the Premier League - the same number as Alexander Isak - with only nine players having more.

More impressive is that Murphy made those four assists in just 717 minutes of league football. Only five players have better assists per 90 (0.50) than the Newcastle man - a similar theme to last season, when he ranked second in the top flight for assists per 90 (0.53).

Bruno Guimarães made it 2-0 for the Magpies against Leicester with his first of the season. His previous league goal came at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, against the Bees, of course.

The Brazilian is always a threat and Brentford will need to deal with him as they did earlier in the month. Guimarães remains the most fouled player in Europe's top five big leagues (having been on the end of 58 fouls).

Guimarães is also vital to Newcastle's creativity, having made 102 progressive passes so far in the league (ranking him fifth) and only three players in the division have made more through balls than the playmaker (10).

Newcastle's rout of Leicester also included a goal from the in-form Isak. The Swede scored in his third straight game - a run that also includes two assists.

Isak's goal was his 20th of the calendar year in the Premier League, with only Cole Palmer (25) and Erling Haaland (26) having managed more. However, Isak's seven league goals this season rank him below two Brentford stars, Yoane Wissa (nine) and Bryan Mbeumo (10).

A win for Brentford at St James' Park on Wednesday would also be their first away at Newcastle since 1934. While the Bees haven't been at their best on the road in the Premier League this season, their only away victory in 2024/25 came in this competition when they edged past Colchester United.

Newcastle will, of course, be higher quality opponents - but the Bees know they have what it takes to handle the Magpies' stars and also find the net against them.

SCOUT REPORT

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Carabao Cup presents Newcastle's best chance of long-awaited trophy success

The thing about success is that increased expectation follows closely behind.

And after finishing inside the top four of the Premier League for the first time in two decades in 2022/23 - as well as reaching the Carabao Cup final and qualifying for the Champions League - Newcastle had a lot to live up to last season.

There had been extreme highs up to the start of last December; most notably opening with a 5-1 win against Aston Villa, thumping Sheffield United 8-0 and winning 4-1 against PSG in the first Champions League night at St James’ Park since March 2003.

All that without even mentioning wins over Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United and the fact Alexander Isak became the first Newcastle player to score 25 goals in all competitions since the great Alan Shearer scored 28 two decades earlier.

But there were pretty low lows, too. Sandro Tonali’s 10-month ban for breaching the FA’s betting regulations put the club in the spotlight and the Magpies particularly suffered at the end of 2023 and the start of 2024, with a torrid run of six defeats in seven leaving them 11 points outside the top four.

They were out of the Carabao Cup before Christmas, by which time the dream of qualifying for the knockout rounds in the Champions League - or even dropping into the Europa League - was dead and buried.

“The group is in a good place, I don't see any negativity,” said Eddie Howe after losing to Manchester City on 13 January. “I see hurt because we aren't winning and that's what we're here to do.” Things did start to pick up thereafter, though they finished with 11 points fewer than the year before.

The story of the Magpies’ season was similar to that of Brighton’s. Returning to European competition placed added strain on Howe’s squad and they suffered 41 injuries throughout the season - the joint-third most of any Premier League club - which took its toll.

While not securing a place in Europe for this term will have come as a great disappointment, Howe and his staff would have been hoping fewer fixtures, and thus less strain on the players, would have translated on the pitch. That has not really been the case - or certainly not to the extent some might have expected.

To say their form has been patchy would probably be the best way to summarise it.

Three wins and a draw put them third after four games. Five games without a win then knocked them down to 12th. Wins over Arsenal and Nottingham Forest looked to have put them back on track, but then taking just one point from matches against struggling sides West Ham and Crystal Palace knocked them off again.

As referenced by The Athletic's Chris Waugh prior to the recent league game, the defensive solidity this season has been well-received. They have kept three clean sheets, only conceded more than one in a game on four occasions, and overperformed their Expected Goals Against figure (25.36) by 4.36, having shipped 21 in 15 games.

Before recent weeks, it had been at the other end that they have suffered. Prior to Saturday's 4-0 win over Leicester, they had scored the joint-lowest amount of goals of any of the teams in the top 14 places in the Premier League and underperformed their Expected Goals figure (21.03) by 2.03, having also only scored 19.

While the tonic to any improvement will, ultimately, be a great deal more nuanced than simply staying solid at the back and improving in attack, that will be the basic plan. It is football in the simplest terms.

And right now, there is not an awful lot to worry about. There is already a nine-point gap between Ipswich in 18th and West Ham in 14th, yet only seven points separating the teams from fifth to 14th so, if Newcastle start to string a few wins together over this hectic December, there is absolutely nothing to say a top six - or even top four - push is out of the question yet.

For now, though, that has to be put to one side. Newcastle’s search for silverware has spanned generations and the Carabao Cup is, arguably, their best chance of ending it.

IN THE DUGOUT

Eddie Howe

Before turning his hand to management for the first time, Eddie Howe had a 13-year playing career as a defender, with all but two of his 312 senior appearances having been made in a Bournemouth shirt.

He was, however, forced to retire prematurely at the age of just 29 at the end of the 2006/07 season.

By this time, he was already managing the Cherries’ reserve team, a role he continued until September 2008, when manager Kevin Bond was sacked, concluding his time at the club, too.

Before long, he had been re-hired as a youth coach and, in January 2009, was appointed first-team manager after a short spell as caretaker, following Jimmy Quinn’s sacking.

The odds were stacked against Howe: Bournemouth were second bottom of League Two on New Year’s Day, having been handed a 17-point deduction at the start of the year.

Yet, he managed to guide his team to 12 wins from the final 21 games, which saw them miraculously survive by nine points.

Howe’s side were promoted to League One the following year but, in January 2011, he left the south coast for Burnley, where he stayed until October 2012, before returning to Bournemouth to take over from Paul Groves.

He, essentially, picked up where he left off, securing promotion to the Championship in April 2013 and to the Premier League for the first time two years later.

In 2020, Bournemouth were relegated from the Premier League after five consecutive seasons in the top flight, leading to Howe’s departure from Vitality Stadium by mutual consent.

After a 15-month break, he took over from Steve Bruce at Newcastle in November 2021, with the 3-3 draw against Brentford his first official game in charge, though he had to watch the game from a hotel room after contracting Covid-19.

Howe - who celebrated three years in charge last month - is currently the fifth-longest serving manager in the Premier League, after Pep Guardiola, Thomas Frank, Mikel Arteta and Marco Silva.

He is also on course to become only the second manager since Bobby Robson (1999 to 2004) to take charge of 150 Newcastle games.

THE GAMEPLAN

With The Athletic's Chris Waugh

Chris Waugh, Newcastle United correspondent for The Athletic, explains how Eddie Howe is likely to set up his side on Saturday.

"Eddie Howe has made a few tweaks in some of the Carabao Cup games, but just given how important a match this is, I think he will go as strong as possible," Waugh said.

"That might mean, because it is on Tyneside, rather than the team he played at Brentford, I think Sandro Tonali will probably come back into the midfield.

"I would imagine it will be the same back five, other than maybe Kieran Trippier at right-back; the midfield three as Tonali, Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton, then Gordon, Alexander Isak and probably Jacob Murphy.

"That is the team I would expect at this stage, but it will be fitness-dependent."

Last Premier League starting XI v Leicester City (4-3-3): Dúbravka; Livramento, Schär, Burn, Hall; Guimarães, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon

Read our full interview with Chris Waugh here.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Barrott to officiate Bees for third time this term

Referee: Sam Barrott

Assistants: Timothy Wood and Wade Smith

Fourth official: James Bell

Sam Barrott will take charge of his third Brentford game of the season when the Bees face Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup.

Barrott was the man in the middle for the 2-1 home victory against Crystal Palace and a defeat at Old Trafford with the same scoreline.

He has issued 54 cards in 10 Premier League games so far this term, as well as six in his only Carabao Cup clash.

VAR will not be in use for the game.

LAST MEETING

Brentford 4 Newcastle United 2 (Premier League, Saturday 7 December)

Brentford continued their Premier League-best home form with a 4-2 victory against Newcastle United at Gtech Community Stadium.

First-half goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa were cancelled out by Alexander Isak and Harvey Barnes as the sides went in level at the break.

Nathan Collins put the Bees back in front early in the second half and Kevin Schade coolly added a fourth in the final minute of the 90.