Fulham will have to try and follow up their opening day success at Everton in the local derby with Brentford this afternoon without the services of Aleksandar Mitrovic – who memorably won the bragging rights with a last-minute header at Craven Cottage twelve months ago. The Serbian striker isn’t off to Saudi Arabia (yet): he has been ruled out of this fixture due to the ankle injury he aggravated at Goodison Park. Anyone unsure of just how big a loss the talismanic number nine would be to Marco Silva’s side should remind themselves of just how big an impact Mitrovic made on Merseyside, particularly the peach of a pass that put Andreas Pereira away and set the wheels in motion for Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s winner.

Mitrovic’s absence will hand a second successive start in Fulham colours to Raúl Jiménez. The Mexican international scored in front of the Hammersmith End in Fulham’s final friendly against Hoffenheim and was only denied a debut goal last weekend by the woodwork seconds before he made way for Mitrovic. The former Wolves striker is more mobile than Mitrovic and is no slouch in the air but probably needs more time at Motspur Park to become fully attuned with Silva’s sytem.

One man the Whites will be able to welcome back is Portuguese holding midfielder Joao Palhinha, who made such an impact in his first Premier League campaign. The man who led the top flight in tackles by a distance missed Fulham’s fortunate win at Everton after injuring his shoulder during the Summer Series success over Brentford but Silva confirmed during his pre-match press conference yesterday that the influential midfielder, who returned to full training on Monday, will be available for selection. The Fulham head coach now has to decide whether he is fit enough to start and whether he should replace Harrison Reed or Sasa Lukic in the starting line-up. Pereira, who produced a brilliant cross for De Cordova-Reid whilst off balance last week, should dynamism and creativity as he is restored to the number ten role after his own injury lay-off.

The blood and thunder of a local derby will probably come too soon for Adama Traoré, whose arrival on a free transfer was announced on Saturday night. The Spanish international is a welcome addition for Silva, who made it clear that he expects more wingers to follow the former Wolves wide man, and his pace and power could be a potent weapon from the bench against tiring full-backs. The more pertinent question will be whether Bobby De Cordova-Reid has earned a side ahead of Willian after punishing the Toffees for their poor finishing having replaced the Brazilian at half-time last weekend.

Brentford might be missing two of their stalwarts in David Raya, who has joined Arsenal this week, and the banned Ivan Toney but Thomas Frank’s side have been far too successful at Craven Cottage after the past decade to be taken for granted. The Bees have tasted defeat on just two of their last sixteen league visits to SW6 and they have plenty of weapons to look out for with Toney suspended until January.

Frank can call upon a pair of potent finishers in Bryan Mbuemo, who has played a part in ten goals in Brentford’s last twelve league games (scoring five and assisting five more) and the lively Yoane Wissa, with fifteen Premier League goals to his name. Our neighbours can supplement their forward line with the pace and power of Kevin Schade, who signed permanently from Freiburg this season, whilst the wily skills of former Hull City winger Kean Lewis-Potter will also need to be nullified.

The Bees will be strengthened by the return of classy midfielder Mathias Jensen, who has recovered from the injury that forced him to be substituted in the 2-2 draw against Tottenham last Sunday, and Nigerian international Frank Onyeka. Frank will give former Burnley defender Ben Mee, so impressive in his first season in Hounslow, as long as possible to prove his fitness after the centre half picked up a calf complaint in the pre-season friendly against Lille.

Both games last season were five-goal thrillers – and given that Silva and Frank place an emphasis on attacking football another action-packed derby could lay in wait later today. Fulham will need to defend better than they managed in a rusty first outing, because not even the brilliance of Bernd Leno will save them if they offer Brentford the sort of opportunities that Everton proved unable to take.

MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Diop, Ream; Palhinha, Reed; Wilson, Willian, Pereira; Jiménez. Subs: Rodak, Mbabu, Bassey, Lukic, Cairney, Decordova-Reid, Traoré, Stansfield, Vinicius.