Correlation FC

Fulham defeat the Bees 3-1

Brentford's strong press led to an early Mikkel Damsgaard interception and goal, but Fulham did all of the rest of the scoring, including a pair of goals just minutes apart late in the first half. Final score 3-1 Fulham.

Pre-game predictions revisited

Prediction #1

Fulham coach Marco Silva will not start Harry Wilson, but will bring him on as a substitute.

Incorrect. Wilson started and scored. He's scored more goals against Brentford than any other team in his career.

Prediction #2

Reiss Nelson will come into the game as a substitute and have at least 1 shot-creating action.

Incorrect. Nelson was not in the line-up. We'll need to wait and see if that was a match fitness issue, or an injury.

Prediction #3

Fulham will have more crosses than Brentford, but will have no more than double Brentford's total.

Wrong. The Bees had 21 crosses to Fulham's 13.

Prediction #4

Sepp van den Berg will play a full 90 minutes against Fulham.

Correct. He played all 90 minutes and led the Bees in clearances (4 - tied), touches in the middle third (30) and interceptions (2).

Prediction #5

Brentford will score at least 1 goal against Fulham.

Correct. Unfortunately one goal wasn't enough to earn points on this occasion.

Trends that continued

Shooting well (when they shoot)

While the Bees haven't been taking as many shots this season as they did last season, they are continuing to be accurate (36% of shots have been on target) and they have a league-leading shortest average shot distance of 13.7 yards.

Back 5

Keith Andrews again used a back 5 formation. He stuck with it throughout the 90 minutes, even with the Bees trailing for the duration of the second half.

Weekend loss following Tuesday win

This was the second time that the Bees lost on a Saturday, following a mid-week victory. The Bees previously defeated Bournemouth in the EFL Cup and then lost to Sunderland. This time they beat Aston Villa mid-week (also in the Carabao Cup) before losing on the weekend.

Other data stories

Ajer's perfect passing

Kristoffer Ajer probably hasn't had the start to the season that he would have wanted, as he hasn't started a Premier League game yet this season. However, against Fulham he came off the bench as a substitute for Ethan Pinnock and made an impact. In 17 minutes he attempted and completed 20 passes, the majority of which were medium to long passes (at least 15 yards). Ajer topped the Bees in progressive passes as well. (Note that the Opta visualisation below suggests that he only completed 19 out of 20 passes – either way, he made an impressive contribution.)

Averaged across a full 90 minutes, he led the Bees in almost every passing and possession category. Clearly Fulham had dropped into more of a defensive posture as the game wound down, but it was Ajer who seemed to be most responsible for pushing the Bees forward and taking advantage of the available space.

Ajer pass map vs Fulham (source: Opta)

Yarmo and Kayode's energy a source of optimism

Despite the disappointing result, two players in particular put in a full 90-minute shift with outstanding effort and non-stop running.

Yehor Yarmoliuk was full of energy for the Bees, covering more of the pitch than any other player. He completed 92% of his passes and carried the ball more than 20 times.

Yarmoliuk heat map vs Fulham (source: Opta)

Michael Kayode was another great source of energy for the Bees, relentlessly running up and down the right sideline. Kayode led the Bees with 59 touches (tied with Nathan Collins), with 26 of those coming in the final third (tied for team lead with Damsgaard). He was second in total carrying distance and by far the team leader in progressive passes received. He was a reliable outlet for his teammates. Kayode also led all players with 15 throw-ins.

Kayode touch map vs Fulham (source: Opta)

A brief tale from the other side

I appreciate that this is potentially dangerous ground for a Brentford-centric publication, but, I've got to give credit to a Fulham player. Brentford's goal was scored when Damsgaard intercepted Josh King's cross-field pass. The teenager looked gutted and inconsolable – a bit like our own Pinnock early in the second half. In the competitive world of elite sports, who cares, right? A guy screwed up and feels sad. So what? He's a professional.

Correlation FC doesn't really see it that way. The people on the pitch, on the sidelines and in the stands are all humans. The silver lining of the King situation was how Alex Iwobi went to King almost immediately and again several times throughout the game to give him a hug and offer some reassuring words.

As a Brentford fan, I loved Damsgaard's goal. Great anticipation and a calm finish. But as a football fan, I also loved seeing Iwobi's humanity in the same moment, taking care of his teenage teammate. Football needs more of that.

Brentford goal contributions

Just a single goal for the Bees this time out, an unassisted effort from Damsgaard.