Brentford welcome Leicester City to the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

Despite being reduced to ten players following Christian Nørgaard’s 41st-minute dismissal against Everton, Thomas Frank’s side held firm and secured their first Premier League goal and first away point of the season last time out.

Nørgaard’s red card has since been overturned, meaning the Bees captain is available this weekend.

Leicester were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea last Saturday and parted ways with manager Steve Cooper the following day.

Cooper was sacked after 12 games with the Foxes in 16th place in the Premier League table.

Pre-game analysis

Richard Cole, playmaker stats: Brentford need to be wary of Buonanotte

Brentford face Leicester City without a manager on Saturday.

With an average of 20.9 tackles per game, the Foxes are third in the Premier League behind Crystal Palace and Manchester United.

Leicester are also a threat from the air, averaging 14.2 aerial shots per game, which puts them fourth in the league.

Of course, they will likely play their game against Brentford, who usually rank first in this category with an average of 18 aerial shots per game.

Although Leicester average the fewest shots per game in the Premier League (9.8), they have still scored more league goals with 15 goals this season than Newcastle and Manchester United (13).

In fact, the Foxes are just one of three teams to exceed their xG this season with a positive value of +1.28xG. Wolverhampton Wanderers are way ahead in this category (+5.51xG), but interestingly the Bees are the only other team in the black with +0.81xG.

Ben Dawson will referee the game at Gtech Community Stadium. The former Newcastle United youth coach hopes his players make a good impression ahead of the new manager’s appointment.

Although Leicester are struggling with injury problems and will be without Abdul Fatawu, one of their best players this year, they can look forward to the return of the exciting Facundo Buonanotte until the end of the season after the Argentine served a ban last time out .

The on-loan Brighton playmaker is one of just four teenagers to score in the Premier League this season (alongside Than Nwaneri, Jack Hinshelwood and Tyler Dibling), but the only one of them to score with the 19-year-old more than once so far three times in the league.

Buonanotte also ranks fourth in the Premier League in average through balls per game with 0.4 (same as Mikkel Damsgaard). That’s more than Cole Palmer, Savinho and Youri Tielemans, with only Dwight McNeil and Alex Iwobi ahead in the rankings (0.5).

Despite this potential threat from young Buonanotte and a Leicester side with a point to prove, Brentford will simply be aiming for a win against the Foxes – something they haven’t achieved for 70 years, when the Bees did so in 1952/53 Second Division were able to record a double in the league season.

A victory is really long overdue.

Scout report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Leicester in transition after Cooper’s departure

It goes without saying that Leicester City have had a wild ride over the last eight years.

From winning the Premier League with a 5000/1 shot in 2016, to playing in the Champions League, winning the FA Cup for the first time, reaching the semi-finals of the Conference League, being relegated to the Championship and being promoted back when asked there are hardly any quiet moments.

The Foxes had the most incredible season under Enzo Maresca last season.

They won 13 of their first 14 league games, pushed Chelsea to the FA Cup quarter-finals and Jamie Vardy rolled back the years to return to top form and help the cause with 18 league goals.

Leicester also appeared to be on course to break Reading’s 106-point record for a long time, but seven defeats in the last 13 ended that dream and they had to settle for 97.

Their squad was admittedly too good for the second division – as was Maresca, who was poached by Chelsea to replace Mauricio Pochettino less than a month after the final day of the Championship season.

Steve Cooper’s six months of unemployment ended when he was handed a three-year contract to replace Maresca at the King Power Stadium.

“His vision for the team, including his ability to develop players and implement a dynamic style of play, fits very well with our ambitions for the club,” said Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha.

“As a leader, he has the ability to build on the strong relationship that has been built between our fans and our team and strengthen a bond that will be vital to us as we re-establish the club in the Premier League. “

Many suspect that the summer transfer window hampered the Welshman from the start. Leicester spent £82.2 million, but mainly on young players with potential.

Leicester fell behind in five of their first six Premier League games, picking up three points, but then won against Bournemouth and Southampton on either side of the October international break, giving them an upward look for the first time.

Speaking after the game at St Mary’s, where the Foxes overturned a 2-0 deficit to beat the Saints 3-2, Cooper said: “We’ve played two games in a row and we need to get everything we can out of the game today. Keep learning, keep improving, keep striving and we will continue to get better.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for him – at least in the short term. After that, Leicester remained winless four times and after the last result – a 2-1 defeat against Maresca’s Chelsea – Cooper was sacked after five months in charge and just 14 competitive games.

The game plan

With Jordan Blackwell, Leicestershire Live

Jordan Blackwell, Leicester City correspondent for Leicestershire Liveexplains how the Foxes are expected to line up on Saturday following the sacking of manager Steve Cooper.

“I think it will be too early to make too many changes, so I think it will be similar, but there might be a slight reversal to the way they played under Maresca last season,” said Blackwell earlier this week.

“There was a feeling when they came into the Premier League they couldn’t play that possession-dominant style, but I think the players would like to play that style and I think they will try it against Brentford.”

“They will look to retain more possession than in previous games and I think they won’t be looking for long balls as much as they may have done in recent weeks.”

“Stephy Mavididi is likely to join the team and they will get their talented attacking players on the ball as often as possible. Jannik Vestergaard could also return to the team as he is the best ball-playing defender.

“I think that will be the focus because when a new manager comes in he won’t have a lot of time to work with the team but the only thing they can do is just try to keep the ball a little bit .” a little better, because that was part of their downfall; The reason they conceded so many shots is because they just don’t hold the ball well enough.”

Blackwell added: “If you look at the stats from the weekend, they had one touch of the ball in Chelsea’s half in the first 25 minutes, so they’re just putting pressure on themselves.

“If they bring players into the team who can hold the ball really well, that should at least help them a little bit.”

Last starting eleven in the Premier League against Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Justin, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen; Soumare, Winks; McAteer, Ndidi, El Khannous; Vardy

Team news

Frank reveals important selection decision in the press conference before the game

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank announced a key selection decision ahead of Leicester City’s visit to the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

Igor Thiago made his Premier League debut in last weekend’s goalless draw with Everton, coming on as a second-half substitute at Goodison Park. However, Frank confirmed that the striker will not be in the starting lineup on Saturday.

“He looks good,” Frank said.

“He played 70 minutes for the B team on Tuesday – 70 valuable minutes.

“He’s ready to potentially start games but he won’t start tomorrow.

“In Yoane Wissa we have a very good striker. He has seven goals – not many strikers have scored more than him in the Premier League, so he is doing very well. He’s doing fantastic and I’m very happy with him.”

Gustavo Nunes played in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Cardiff earlier this month but the Brazilian is unavailable for Saturday’s clash with the Foxes.

Defenders Kristoffer Ajer (foot) and Rico Henry (knee) are also out, while Aaron Hickey (thigh) and Josh Dasilva (knee) are the west Londoners’ longer-term absences.

Captain Christian Nørgaard avoided a ban after the club successfully appealed against his red card against the Toffees.

Match officials

Oliver, the man in the middle

Referee: Michael Oliver

Assistants: Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring

Fourth official: Darren Bond

VAR: Stuart Attwell

Michael Oliver was one of six England officials to officiate matches at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Oliver refereed three games in Qatar, including the quarter-final between Croatia and Brazil.

The Northumberland-born referee’s last appearance at Brentford was the Bees’ 4-1 defeat to Liverpool in February this year.

Oliver refereed 41 games last season, showing 153 yellow cards and six red cards.

Last meeting

Brentford 1 Leicester City 1 (Premier League, March 18, 2023)

Mathias Jensen scored for the fourth time in five home games to earn Brentford a point against Leicester City.

The midfielder’s deflected shot gave the Bees a deserved lead at the end of an entertaining first 45 minutes at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Harvey Barnes’ fine finish brought the Foxes level seven minutes after the restart and Brendan Rodgers’ side had the better half of the second half without testing David Raya on his 150th appearance for Brentford.

Shandon Baptiste was sent off for two late yellow cards but Brentford survived the final stages with ten men.