Brentford v Chelsea: Key stats and talking points

Chelsea go in search of just their second Premier League win at Gtech Community Stadium, taking on a Brentford side vying for back-to-back home victories under new boss Keith Andrews. BBC Sport takes a look at some of the key themes before Saturday's match.

Many of Chelsea's players, particularly their South American contingent, spent the international break criss-crossing the globe - but little travel has been required so far in the Premier League, with this the Blues' fourth consecutive game against London opposition.

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They are just the second side in the top four tiers of English football to begin a league season with four successive London derbies.

Enzo Maresca's side have taken seven points from their opening three fixtures, conceding just once - maintaining their strong defensive record from the final three months of last season. They have kept nine clean sheets in their past 15 top-flight matches, more than any other side since 25 February.

While they have benefited from contentious VAR interventions which led to disallowed goals for Fulham and Crystal Palace, Chelsea have coped well without key centre-back Levi Colwill, who will miss most of the season after injuring his knee in pre-season.

The Club World Cup winners suffered another injury blow when summer signing Liam Delap hurt his hamstring against Fulham, ruling the centre-forward out for up to eight weeks. The Blues briefly considered cancelling Nicolas Jackson's move to Bayern Munich but instead signed Facundo Buonanotte on loan from Brighton and recalled Marc Guiu from his loan spell at Sunderland.

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Striker Guiu, 19, played three times for the Black Cats, including a late cameo in their 2-1 win over Brentford last time out, so could make consecutive appearances against the Bees.

Brentford in profit but could it prove costly in long run?

This is the first of back-to-back London derbies for Brentford, who also visit Fulham next weekend.

They suffered a frustrating defeat at the Stadium of Light on 30 August, finishing empty handed despite taking the lead after 77 minutes, having earlier missed a penalty. Those dropped points could prove crucial at the end of the season if the two clubs up being direct rivals in the relegation battle.

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Brentford can no longer call upon one of the Premier League's most reliable penalty-takers, having sold Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United in July. The club also finally allowed Yoane Wissa to join Newcastle on deadline day, meaning both of last season's joint-top scorers have departed.

The Bees have spent £84m on seven new signings but recouped £133m in sales, resulting in a net profit of approximately £49m this summer, second only to Bournemouth.

Overall, six clubs finished with a surplus but of those sides only Brentford have a new manager at the helm, underlining the difficult task facing rookie boss Andrews.

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