Fulham v Brentford: Back Bees to buzz and 10/3 punt involving Mbuemo

• Expect goals in entertaining West London derby

• Ignore Brentford away from and get them on side

• Star man Mbuemo fancied to punish Cottagers again

• Place £5 on a US Election market and receive a £5 free bet

Fulham v Brentford
Monday, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports

Two likeable closely-matched teams

Featuring two likeable teams and two very likeable managers, Monday night's West London derby promises to be an enjoyable watch, and hopefully one that produces plenty of goals.

Both clubs went into the weekend round of fixtures sitting around mid-table, and a win for either side on Monday night will see them climb up to the fringes of the top six, while a draw won't do any of them any harm whatsoever.

As well as their proximity in the table to each other, both teams have huge similarities in their results also. Marco Silva's Fulham side have lost three times this term, all three coming against big reputation teams - Man City, Man United and Aston Villa - with two of those defeats coming on the road and one being at Craven Cottage.

Thomas Frank's men have lost all four Premier League away games this season, but City and United were also two of those opponents while Brentford also fell to defeat to Liverpool and Tottenham.

In a nutshell then, the only teams that Fulham and Brentford have lost to this season are those considered 'big six' and/or challenging for honours. Against the lesser-likes both teams remain unbeaten in the league this term, and that makes this game, at firt glance, very difficult to predict.

Away win looks the percentage call

Given how closely-matched these two outfits are it stands to reason that the Match Odds market will favour the team with home advantage. In this case, that team is Fulham, and the Cottagers can be backed at 1/12.00 to take all three points. The Bees can be backed at 13/53.60 with the Draw the marginal outsider of all three options at 27/103.70.

I like both teams; for the Cottagers Emile Smith Rowe is a fantastic signing and Raul Jimenez looks back to his best, while for Brentford Bryan Mbeumo has been outstanding, superbly supported by Yoane Wissa. But my gut feeling is that Brentford are marginally the better team, and I think I'm happy to ignore their away form to date and put them up as a selection here.

Frank probably wanted to lock himself away in a dark room for a few days when he saw that his first four Premier League away games would be at Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham and Manchester United, and his worst fears were realised with defeats in all four games.

But the Bees weren't disgraced in any of those matches, and they actually took the leads against City, Spurs and United before narrowly losing. They ended last season with just one defeat in four away games including scoring three at Aston Villa and five at Luton, and perhaps more importantly, they thrashed Fulham 3-0 in this corresponding fixture last term, all three goals being scored by Mbuemo (2) and Wissa (1).

Silva's men have taken seven points from a possible 12 at the Cottage this season, but six of those were against Leicester and an out-of-form Newcastle side, while they also drew with a West Ham team thad I have as inferior to Brentford right now.

So at the odds, I'll definitely take a punt on an away win at 13/53.60. In fact, I'm quietly confident.

Goals and Mbuemo look solid Bet Builder selections

For a Bet Builder, I'm simply going to rely on one that puts together selections that have been very reliable so far this season.

In terms of goals, all four of Fulham's home games have ended with both teams getting on the scoresheet, while an average of 3.25 goals were scored across those four matches.

As we've mentioned already, Brentford have scored in their last three away games, all at difficult venues, and both teams to score and over 2.5 goals landed in each match.

So I think Both Teams to Score - available to back at just 1/21.50 on its own - and Over 2.5 Goals (3/51.60) look strong contenders for a Bet Builder, while including Mbuemo Anytime Scorer at 23/103.30 seems very sensible too. In fact, at over 2/13.00, I wouldn't put anyone off backing the Mbuemo option alone.

The 25-year-old has been in scintillating form this season, sitting only behind Erling Haaland at the top of the scorers chart with nine goals to his name. He scored two in this corresponding fixture last term, and as we know, he's only penalty duties.

Combining all three selection in a Bet Builder pays out at around 10/34.33.

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