Thomas Frank will be disappointed by Brentford's inconsistent results, but encouraged by some strong performances as the Bees look to bounce back from defeat at Aston Villa against a similarly unpredictable and inconsistent Newcastle United side at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Since Brentford were promoted to the Premier League in 2021, Thomas Frank has made some big changes to the team and their style of play. This season, the Bees have been a lot more entertaining to watch, with 53 goals in 14 games. Only three other teams have scored more, and four have conceded more.

The west Londoners are coming into this one on the back of another defeat on the road. This time it was at Villa Park against an Aston Villa side that hadn't won in their previous eight matches. Villa were quick to take the lead, with Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash all finding the back of the net before half-time. Mikkel Damsgaard managed to pull one back for the Bees in the second half.

Eddie Howe has been facing more pressure recently than ever before in his time as manager of Newcastle United. However, the Magpies demonstrated their ability to compete with the best in midweek and, as Howe himself said in his post-match interview, showed what their level should be.

They played Liverpool, who are top of the league, at St James' Park and drew 3-3. They went ahead twice, first through Alexander Isak and then Anthony Gordon, but Fabian Schar equalised in the 90th minute after Caoimhin Kelleher made a mistake. That result means they've only lost one match in their last six, across all competitions.

Brentford midfielder Christian Norgaard, who missed the midweek defeat by Aston Villa, is likely to be fit to face Newcastle.Kristoffer Ajer could remain sidelined because of a foot injury, joining fellow absentees Mathias Jensen, Gustavo Nunes, Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey and Josh Dasilva.

Newcastle full-back Kieran Trippier was kept out of Wednesday's 3-3 draw against Liverpool because of illness and is a doubt for the weekend.Fabian Schar, Joelinton and Sandro Tonali are one yellow card away from a suspension.Sven Botman is back to training but won't be available to the game that fast.

Expected Lineup

Brentford

GK Mark Flekken

LB Keane Lewis-Potter | CB Nathan Collins | CB Ethan Pinnock | RB Sepp van den Berg

DM Vitaly Janelt | DM Christian Nørgaard

LW Yoane Wissa | AM Mikkel Damsgaard | RW Bryan Mbeumo

ST Igor Thiago

Newcastle United

GK Nick Pope

LB Lewis Hall | CB Dan Burn | CB Fabian Schär | RB Valentino Livramento

CM Bruno Guimaraes | CM Sean Longstaff | CM Joe Willock

FWL Joelinton | ST Alexander Isak | FWR Anthony Gordon

Injury/suspension updates:

Brentford

Kristoffer Ajer, D, foot, DOUBT

Josh Dasilva, M, knee, OUT, estimated return Jan. 14

Rico Henry, M/D, knee, DOUBT

Aaron Hickey, M/D, hamstring, OUT, estimated return May. 18

Mathias Jensen, M, hamstring, DOUBT

Christian Nørgaard, M, undisclosed, DOUBT

Gustavo Nunes, F/M, back, DOUBT

Newcastle United

Sven Botman, D, knee, OUT, estimated return Dec. 26

Emil Krafth, D, collarbone, OUT, estimated return Jan. 4

Jamaal Lascelles, D, knee, OUT, estimated return Jan. 15

Kieran Trippier, D, illness, DOUBT