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Chelsea at Brentford: Three things to look for in Blues’ return

By Akshat Mehrish

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Timo Werner of Chelsea FC celebrates scoring a goal which is later disallowed by VAR during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on October 02, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Timo Werner of Chelsea FC celebrates scoring a goal which is later disallowed by VAR during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on October 02, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 02: Timo Werner of Chelsea FC celebrates scoring a goal which is later disallowed by VAR during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on October 02, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 02: Timo Werner of Chelsea FC celebrates scoring a goal which is later disallowed by VAR during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on October 02, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images) /

Chelsea will resume its challenge for the Premier League title when the competition returns following a two-week long international break. The Blues finished the previous matchweek on top of the league after a hard-fought 3-1 win over Southampton—one point ahead of challengers Liverpool and two ahead of champions Manchester City.

Thomas Frank’s Brentford awaits Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea this weekend; the Blues face a short trip away to the Brentford Community Stadium. The newly-promoted Bees have had a flying start to life in the top division. In their first seven matches, they have beaten Arsenal and West Ham United and drawn against Liverpool—results that have propelled them to seventh in the table. Overcoming them, then, won’t be a walk in the park.

Here are some of the things to look for ahead of the contest:

1. Timo Werner resurgence

The sweet sound of the ball hitting the net was quickly engulfed by a much louder unified cheer that followed. Chelsea had scored—Timo Werner the scorer—and those present inside Stamford Bridge breathed a sigh of relief. Southampton had held the Blues at bay for long periods of a frustrating encounter, but Werner’s timely strike was the sucker punch that would ultimately break their resilient defense.

It was a goal Werner merited, based on an excellent display. The German’s industry had opened up spaces for his teammates, while a shockingly disallowed goal had only fueled his desire to find the net and break his duck. Both were well-taken goals too—the one that stood and the one that didn’t—giving the Blues faithful just the slightest bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, the Werner they had watched ripping defenses apart in Germany was back.

The 25-year-old still has plenty of ground to make up and plenty of goals to score before we can claim that he is well and truly back. However, Werner’s well-taken goals against North Macedonia recently are further evidence that the forward is getting his confidence back. The forward has scored five in five for his national team and has completely transformed since the arrival of Hansi Flick. He has the form, and more importantly, he seems to have the fire. Two questions, then, linger ahead of Chelsea’s match against Brentford on the weekend. Will Werner start? If he does, can he finish?

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