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Chelsea visit “New Griffin Park” for the second time in two months on Wednesday evening – but this time with a cup semi-final place at stake.

The Blues’ first visit was in mid-October and they arrived as Premier League leaders, making the short trip home with all three points after a narrow 1-0 win.

Since then, they have been knocked off top spot – largely because of the number of games they have drawn.

After beating us, they had six wins, one draw and one defeat from their opening eight matches – they now have 11 wins, five draws and only two defeats from 18 games.

Two of the draws have come in their last two fixtures – 1-1 at home to Everton last Thursday and then 0-0 at Wolves on Sunday, a match they wanted postponed because of the Covid outbreak affecting their squad.

They also drew the final game of their Champions League group 3-3 at Zenit St Petersburg after a last-minute goal, and now face one of the group winners Lille in the next round.

CHELSEA IN THE LEAGUE CUP

Because of their involvement in Europe, Chelsea have only played two ties to reach the Carabao Cup quarter-finals – beating both Aston Villa and Southampton 4-3 on penalties after 1-1 draws at Stamford Bridge.

Their record in the competition is good, reaching eight finals and winning five of them.

Their results in the finals are:

1965 – Leicester – W 3-2 on aggregate

1972 – Stoke – L 1-2

1998 – Middlesbrough – W 2-0 after extra-time

2005 – Liverpool – W 3-2 after extra-time

2007 – Arsenal – W 2-1

2008 – Spurs – L 1-2 after extra-time

2015 – Spurs – W 2-0

2019 – Man City – L 3-4 on penalties after 0-0 draw

WHO’S IN CHARGE 

Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager in January.

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Thomas has twice taken over from Jurgen Klopp as a boss – firstly at Mainz in 2009 and then at Borussia Dortmund six years later.

He then moved to Paris St Germain, where he won the league title in successive seasons and also guided the club to a Champions League final.

Thomas’s playing career was cut short by injury at the age of only 25 and he became a youth coach and was then in charge of FC Augsburg’s reserve team, before taking the Mainz job.

WE’VE MET BEFORE

While we have only met Chelsea 11 times in the league and been drawn together three times in the FA Cup, we have never met before in the League Cup.

Our past league results – all in the top flight with Brentford score first – are:

1935/36 – (H) W 2-1 (A) L 1-2

1936/37 – (H) W 1-0 (A) L 1-2

1937/38 – (H) D 1-1 (A) L 1-2

1938/39 – (H) W 1-0 (A) W 3-1

1946/47 – (H) L 0-2 (A) L 2-3

2021/22 – (H) L 0-1

The Premier League meeting in October will be remembered for the brilliant performance by Blues goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

His superb individual display kept us out and meant that Ben Chilwell’s goal on the stroke of half-time was enough to give our visitors all three points.

Our first meeting in the FA Cup came at Griffin Park in the third round in 1949/50, when we were in the Second Division (now Championship) and Chelsea were in the top flight. And it was the visitors who went through 1-0 thanks to an early goal from Jimmy Bowie.

We were drawn at home to the Blues again in the fourth round in 2012/13 when we were in League One and we nearly pulled off a shock victory.

Marcello Trotta gave us the lead just before half-time, only for Oscar to level after the break. Harry Forrester put us 2-1 up with a 73rd-minute penalty, after a foul on substitute Tom Adeyemi, but Fernando Torres ruined our dreams with a late equaliser as it finished 2-2.

In the Stamford Bridge replay, we held out until the 54th minute before Juan Mata gave Chelsea the lead, and then further goals from Oscar, Frank Lampard and John Terry completed a 4-0 win for the hosts.

It was the same scoreline when we again met in the fourth round in 2016/17, with Chelsea being drawn at home this time.

Willian and Pedro had the Blues 2-0 up after only 21 minutes, and Chelsea struck twice more in the last 21 minutes through Branislav Ivanovic, in his farewell appearance for the club, and Michy Batshuayi, from the penalty spot.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE GAME IF YOU CAN’T BE THERE

If you can’t get to the Brentford Community Stadium for Wednesday’s 7.45pm kick-off, there are various ways of following the game.

TV – There is no live TV coverage of the match.

Radio – There will be live commentary on the TalkSport app and reports on BBC Five Live and BBC Radio London.

iFollow – If you want Brentford commentary, iFollow audio coverage is available again this season via monthly or seasonal passes. Coverage starts half an hour before kick-off and is advert-free, with Mark Burridge and the team.

IAN WESTBROOK

@ianwestbrook

PUBS IN BRENTFORD AND TRAVEL NEWS

For Chelsea fans coming to the Brentford Community Stadium, there are plenty of pub options pre and post-match and all are most welcoming and away-fan-friendly (as it should be).

The pub areas are split into two zones. There is the area around Brentford’s old Griffin Park stadium. The pubs there are still very busy on match day frequented by Bees locals before heading down the road to the stadium at Kew Bridge which is only 15 minutes walk.

Then there is the area in and around the stadium in Kew Bridge.

It is possible, if you have a good early start, to savour a few pubs in and around Griffin Park and Brentford zone before heading off to the pubs in the Kew zone or even vice versa if you so fancy.

Pubs in Griffin Park/Brentford zone

When at Griffin Park, Brentford was well known for its four pubs – one on each corner of the ground. Three are still operating.

The Griffin is closest to the old away end and has always been very popular with both home and away fans and has its regulars who still make the journey down to the new stadium from there on matchday. The New Inn is on the other side which used to also be popular with away fans before the move. The Brook pub is the other option if you want to savour a pub in and around what is left of our old home. Worth a peep if you want to reminisce about old Brentford.

About five minutes’ walk away from the old ground are two pubs which are enormously popular. The Globe (Windmill Rd) is a “lively but comfortable” pub on matchday. Incredibly friendly and cosy, it has always been popular with a selection of away fans who fancied having a beer a few minutes further walk away from the ground without having to queue six persons deep. After the move to the new ground, The Globe has retained many of lot its regulars from the Griffin Park days and with screens throughout the pub and in its sheltered beer garden, it shows both Premier League and EFL football before and after each match.

Meanwhile around the corner, The Lord Nelson (Enfield Rd) is another incredibly friendly and cosy away-friendly pubs about one minute walk from The Globe. Again with a TV screen for live sports and a lovely beer garden, this is another pub frequented by “away fans in the know”.

The other pub worth checking out in the Griffin Park region is The Black Dog Beer House, formerly The Albany, on Albany Road, if you like your real ales.

There are plenty of other pubs in and around Brentford High Street including real ale pub Magpie and Crown (Brentford High Street) and the cosy Brewery Tap (Catherine Wheel Road) near the river.

For a Griffin Park area pub crawl before heading over to Kew we recommend the following: Take the Piccadilly line to Northfields station. Turn left and walk for 2 mins and you will come to The Plough (Northfields Ave). Then walk to The Lord Nelson (10 min walk from The Plough) & then The Globe (1 min walk from The Nelson) en-route before hitting The Griffin (8 min walk from The Globe) and then The Black Dog (2 mins from The Griffin). You can also try and do the other three pubs on the corner whilst down here if you fancy.

Then you can then either walk (15 minutes from The Globe/The Nelson and The Griffin/Black Dog ) or take a train from Brentford station (which is five minutes walk away from both The Globe/The Nelson and The Griffin/Black Dog) or a bus (237/267) to Kew Bridge.

Trains run at 24 and 54 minutes past the hour to Kew Bridge from Brentford and take two minutes.

Pubs in the Kew Bridge zone

Right next to Kew Bridge station, you will find the Express Tavern – an ale pub with a retro feel. The pub has been refurbished in readiness for the new football season and needless to say, is popular before the match due to its close proximity to the stadium.

Across the road by the river is One Over the Ait – a spacious boozer right next to Kew Bridge. This pub is situated on the location of the now-demolished Oxford & Cambridge pub where Brentford Football Club was founded in 1889.

Across Kew Bridge and the River Thames, there are two pubs on Kew Green – the Cricketers and the Greyhound – very close to the pier where Brentford fans have embarked on their away journeys by water to F*lham, Orient, Charlton, West Ham and even Southend.

North of the river along hoity-toity Strand on the Green, you will find The Steam Packet, in an old Cafe Rouge, and The Bell. A bit further down are The City Barge and the Bulls Head – two pubs side-by-side in which you would often see Ant and Dec hanging out.

There is also The Pilot which you can get to coming out of the BACK entrance of Gunnersbury station and we believe the old John Bull pub at the front of the station has been refurbed as The Gunnersbury but we have never been there so can’t give it a rating.

Transport to Brentford and Kew Bridge

The simplest way on paper to get to Brentford FC from town is to take the tube to Waterloo (Northern, Jubilee lines) or Vauxhall (Victoria Line) and then take the Overground train to Kew Bridge, which is right by the stadium. Brentford is one stop further on if you are on an ‘Original Griffin Park Pub’ mission.

With trains from Waterloo being only twice an hour (22 and 52) and taking 28 minutes, we normally recommend people jump on the tube from King’s Cross or Euston and head to Northfields or South Ealing on the Piccadilly Line as it is quicker (including the time getting across London and waiting at Waterloo) and trains are more frequent.

It is only 40 minutes max station by tube to station meaning you could be in a Brentford pub within an hour of embarking your train at Kings Cross, Euston or Liverpool Street.

The other station option is Gunnersbury. You can walk to the stadium from Gunnersbury tube station (District line) in 25 minutes or take a bus (H91, 237, 267, 110), but note that it is closed for entry for one hour after the match.

For the Brentford/Griffin Park pubs you can get the Piccadilly line tube to Northfields station from King’s Cross or Euston (35 minutes) then walk down to The Plough, The Globe, The Lord Nelson and The Griffin and other pubs from there.

The new stadium is around 25 minutes’ walk from South Ealing station – if you don’t fancy Gunnersbury – or you can get on the 65 bus from across the road which will drop you almost outside in 15 minutes.

You can also pick up the 65 bus from Ealing Broadway (district and central line) which will take you to the new stadium in 25 minutes.

You can check out Transport for London’s guide to travel on the Tube and Overground.