Brentford vs Newcastle United, Carabao Cup: live score and latest updates

we’ll go straight over to the Arsenal and Man City blog.

Enjoyable half of football, the Championship side will feel they should have got one I think. Going is soft, heavy in places down there. Newcastle far from convincing. Either side could easily take this.

Oooh that was close. Callum Wilson with a run down the inside left channel, he’s clear through and Daniels the keeper does really well… he stays on his feet, Wilson I think is expecting him to go to ground, and he manages to force him wide and narrow the shooting window. Blocks the shot and the moment passes.

Ghoddos slings that in and Hayden heads the ball behind.

Dasilva carries this one a long way down the right and cuts inside. There’s been a foul and Brentford have a free about 40 yards out, central.

Brentford deal well enough with that corner.

Shelvey to Fraser, who gets the better of the right back Fosu-Henry – he’s out of position in the moment and the broader sense there, the Brentford man. Fraser has a crack and Daniels in nets tips it over.

Bees should have had this game won. How will they respond? Chance after chance. The pitch has taken a lot of water and is looking very waterlogged. Brentford trying to play it around at the back but it looks like they’re in a marsh. I imagine Brucey will already be warming up his pipes for a good half time bellow. Newcastle have been second best.

Tipping it down in west London right now.

Oh another gilt-edged chance from Brentford! Pinnock picks out Canos at the back post from a corner and he has somehow put the header wide from about three inches out. Dear me. Will Brentford come to rue these missed, etc etc etc

A HOWL of anguish, and industrial language from the Brentford bench as that one went a-begging.

Dasilva again, trying again from the right with the left.

Excellent press from Brentford, who really do look a mini Premier League team. Good press, Newcastle cannot play through it, Dasilva crosses low – and Ghoddos hits the bar! Shocker! He scuffs his shot and somehow hits the bar from point-blank.

Brentford: Daniels, Thompson, Pinnock, Sorensen, Fosu, Da Silva, Janelt, Ghoddos, Forss, Marcondes, Canos. Subs: Raya, Goode, Norgaard, Jensen, Toney, Mbeumo, Stevens.

Newcastle: Darlow, Yedlin, Hayden, Clark, Lewis, Murphy, Sean Longstaff, Shelvey, Fraser, Wilson, Almiron. Subs: Carroll, Joelinton, Ritchie, Gayle, Hendrick, Krafth, Gillespie.

Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside)

Brentford have a freekick deep in their own half and launch it forwards to little avail.

Bit of a lull in the match at the moment – that will more likely suit the Premier League club. There are lots of passes but nothing really to report. They’re both showing each other a fair bit of respect. 

Great save from Daniels as a long, hopeful ball over the top falls kindly for Wilson who fires in a clean half-volley that was destined for the back of the net from an angle. Close…

The early pressure has eased from Brentford and the visitors are able to feel their way into proceedings. They have a throw on in the final third, the ball is ultimately hoofed into the area and Brentford can clear their lines. 

Newcastle see the ball for a prolonged period – ie more than a few seconds – for the first time tonight. Longstaff and Shelvey get on the ball but cannot fashion a chance. 

If Newcastle weren’t sure how the hosts were going to play then they do now. They’ve been dynamic and energetic and they have an early corner on the left. 

From the set piece Pinnock makes a run to the near post and heads over. At the very least he had to get that on target…early warning signs from Brentford. 

Forss and Da Silva link up well with Da Silva getting a cross in from the right that is easily defended by the visitors. 

The next attack finds Ghoddos in space 25 yards out and the Iranina fires in a shot that just goes wide. Lively start from the Bees. 

We’re underway in west London. 

It should be an entertaining match – they tend to be fun when this Brentford side play. 

While a lot of the talk has been about Toney starting on the bench it’s easy to forget that his replacement Forss is still a fine player. He’s got seven goals this season, mostly from the bench. 

A lot of Newcastle’s hopes will rest on what sort of support they can provide Callum Wilson tonight. 

Had Brentford put out their strongest side they’d possibly be slight favourites – home side, unbeaten in 13 Championship matches etc etc. The lack of Toney, though, has sort of given the visitors a boost. The hosts still have the players to control the match and it will still take a good performance from Steve Bruce’s side to get a result. 

On the strong team he’s put out…

“We’ve looked at the situation, it’s been difficult as has been well documented, but we’ve put as strong a team as we can and let’s hope we’ve got enough.”

On possibly getting to Wembley…

“It will be great for a club like ours, since I’ve become 18 months’ ago I’ve stressed the important of the cup competitions.”   

On the challenge Brentford pose…

“They’ve been a good side for years now. They’ve gone about their work brilliantly and you can only congratulate them. We know what to expect, they’e a decent side they’re 13 games unbeaten. We have to play well.”

On Brentford not playing Toney…

“You’ll have to ask them about that.”

Brentford: Daniels, Thompson, Pinnock, Sorensen, Fosu, Da Silva, Janelt, Ghoddos, Forss, Marcondes, Canos. Subs: Raya, Goode, Norgaard, Jensen, Toney, Mbeumo, Stevens.

Newcastle: Darlow, Yedlin, Hayden, Clark, Lewis, Murphy, Sean Longstaff, Shelvey, Fraser, Wilson, Almiron. Subs: Carroll, Joelinton, Ritchie, Gayle, Hendrick, Krafth, Gillespie.

Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside)

Brentford have left out Toney.

Newcastle have made four changes for the Carabao Cup quarter-final at Brentford.

Isaac Hayden, Ryan Fraser, Jamal Lewis and Jacob Murphy come into the side, while Callum Wilson leads the line once again.

Former Newcastle striker Ivan Toney, the Sky Bet Championship’s top scorer, was surprisingly named on the Brentford bench.

The Final of this competition was to have been on Feb 28 but will now take place on Sunday, 25 April. Guess they’re hoping that a few more fans can come.

League Cup quarterfinal action is upon us, with kick off for Brentford vs Newcastle coming up at 5.30pm. We will have the team news very shortly. Our man in the North East, the excellent Mr Luke Edwards, reckons this is a massive game for Newcastle’s veteran manager:

Why Newcastle’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Brentford is the most important of Steve Bruce’s reign

Luke reckons that most Geordies accept a pragmatic approach in the League and are realistic about the side’s chances in that. But the game is about glory, is it not, and how those fans would love it, they would love it, if they could get their hands on some silverware. 

Here is Luke: “Bobbing around in midtable, it already looks like being another mundane league campaign. There is little danger of relegation, but a European push looks well beyond their reach. And after poor performances and just one point from their matches against newly promoted Leeds and Fulham, pressure gathers.

It is therefore the cup that Newcastle fans must look to for excitement. So too must Bruce. For all the criticism which continues to surround him over playing style and methods, the one thing he has changed for the better is taking cup competitions seriously again.”

Powerful stuff from Bruce here about a couple of his lads who have had Covid really bad.

“We’ve had vomiting, sores, mouth ulcers, no smell, no taste, but the big thing, and which is the worrying, is the welfare of one or two of them.It’s not great at all. That long-term Covid is something which you wouldn’t think possible in young, fit, athletes. Unfortunately, it is so.“They go for a walk for half an hour and then they want to go back to bed. It’s as brutal as that. The fatigue is the one thing that has hit them all. For two of them, it’s beyond that. We hope there’s light at the end of the tunnel, but some are finding it a struggle.”