Brentford vs. Everton Betting Tips: Cards on the table in West London

Brentford and Everton lock horns at the Brentford Community Stadium in the Premier League's televised Saturday evening game, live on Sky Sports at 5.30pm.

Scott Thornton has scoured the markets and selected two tips for the match.

It's been a difficult start to the new campaign for both clubs, who find themselves still searching for consistency in the early stages of this 2023/24 season.

Both managers will see this as an opportunity to kickstart their seasons as Brentford and Everton collide in West London. Brentford will have their eyes set on finishing as high as possible so they need to improve on their start. For Everton, avoiding relegation will likely be seen as success given how things have started.

Rico Henry suffered an ACL injury so he will be out for a lengthy period and is unlikely to return this season. Ivan Toney remains suspended due to his betting activities. Everton will be without Seamus Coleman for this match. Jack Harrison faces a late fitness test but Dominic Calvert-Lewin should be fit enough to start.

Brentford sit 11th in the table with six points from their opening five matches.

Thomas Frank's side have shown flashes of the exciting, attacking football that saw them exceed expectations last term, but they've struggled to turn those flashes into sustained success so far. They had three draws in their opening five matches with their only win coming over Fulham.

As for Everton, the pressure is growing on manager Sean Dyche to turn things around after a winless start to the season under the former Burnley boss.

Their only point so far came away to Sheffield United and the club are languishing in 18th. The Toffees have sacked a manager in their last two seasons and this has helped them successfully avoid relegation. Dyche could become yet another casualty if results don’t improve soon. However, there is a feeling that Everton’s luck could run out with goals being a real issue for the club.

Everton’s matches so far this season have seen the second fewest cards in the league. Dyche’s side have been desperate for the points and have a number of physically imposing players but this has seldom translated lots of cards. However, their average of 4.2 per game - two Everton and 2.2 for the opposition - would still be enough for this to land.

Both sides picked up two yellow cards in this fixture last season. Michael Oliver is at the whistle for this one, he has earned a reputation for being one of the more lenient referees in the league but he has dished out an average of 4.5 cards per game this season.

There has been an inflated card count across the Premier League as referees clamp down on time-wasting and professional fouls, so expect this trend to continue this weekend.

For our long shot we are continuing to hope for some ill-discipline by combining match fee kicks with our cards bet.

Everton’s last match with Brentford saw 23 fouls and four offsides. Both count towards the free kick count classification on Bet 365.

This game should be a cagey affair and the increasing pressure on the visitors should mean we see some cynical tackles.

We are also adding both teams to score to our bet.

Everton’s woes in front of goal have been well-documented but Brentford have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last three home matches.

The Toffees have also scored in four of their last five away matches in the league.