Premier League Preview: Brentford

Blog written by ad_wilkin
Published: 25th October 2024 9:45

I’ll admit, I thought Brentford would struggle following the sale of Ivan Toney but once again Thomas Frank has found a solution and for me is up there as one of the best managers in the league.

His stock has stayed high and he has been linked to the Manchester United job on numerous occasions and has a 41.9% win rate with Brentford.

The Bees currently sit a healthy 13th in the league. Victories so far have come against Crystal Palace, Southampton and Wolves, balanced out by defeats against Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham and Manchester United and a draw with West Ham.

Quite a few pundits were predicting them to struggle this year but based on the start of the season it looks like they’ll be safely mid-table.

<h1>Goalkeepers </h1>

Brentford’s number one is Mark Flekken who is coming into his second season with the Bees having joined in 2023 from Freiburg to replace the departing David Raya.

His 33 saves so far this season top the ranks alongside Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen showing how busy he’s been so far.

His back-up is 22-year-old Iceland international Hakon Rafn Valdimarsson, who kept a clean sheet in the Euros warm-up game where Iceland shocked England with a 1-0 victory. He’s played twice for Brentford this season. Both in Carabao Cup games.

<h1>Defence </h1>

Sepp van den Berg joined in the summer from Liverpool following an impressive loan spell at Mainz. The 22-year-old has taken time to bed in but took his opportunity following an injury to Kristoffer Ajer and has started the last four matches at either right-back or right centre-half as Brentford have dropped into a back five against the stronger sides.

Nathan Collins already has 84 Premier League appearances at the age of 23 in spells with Burnley, Wolves and now Brentford. He also has 21 caps for Ireland playing alongside Town counterpart Dara O’Shea. He has already racked-up 22 blocks and 28 clearances and has a tackle success rate of 80%.

Alongside him is 31-year-old Jamaican, Ethan Pinnock, who has been a mainstay in the Brentford side since they got promoted. He has made 98 Premier League appearances and alongside Collins provides a set-piece threat with both centre-halves popping up with goals against Wolves. He’s won ten tackles and made 34 clearances so far this season.

Kristoffer Ajer is naturally right-footed but has spent the season playing at left-back. The 26-year-old Norweigan was signed from Celtic in 2021 and has largely played right-back or centre-back in his time at the club. He’s struggled in his new position at times this season and it could be an area Town can exploit.

The reason he’s been used there is the long-term injury to Rico Henry, who’s been out since Septemeber 2023. Thomas Frank mentioned in a recent update that he’s back on the grass but the game against Manchester United was likely to come too soon.He could be back in the squad for this one.

With Aaron Hickey also a long-term injury absentee, Brentford are short in depth at the back with only veteran Ben Mee, young Korean Kim Ji-Soo and 18-year-old Jayden Meghoma as option.

Twenty-five-year-old midfielder Mads Roerslev can also fill in at right-back and started the season off there but has spent most of his time playing as a right midfielder.

<h1>Midfielders </h1>

Brentford sometimes play in a flat 4-4-2 and on other times pack the midfield with a three. No matter what formation there has been one ever present so far and that is Vitaly Janelt. Signed in 2020 Janelt has made 169 appearances for the Bees. He’s an all-round midfielder and has already made 21 progressive passes and chalked up an assist this season.

The next highest appearance-maker in midfield is Mikkel Damsgaard. The 24-year-old Dane can play all over the place but has found his most success this season in a free role in the centre of midfield. He put in a man of the match performance against Wolves with two assists.

The Danish contingent in that area also consists of Mathias Jensen and Christian Norgaard. Jensen started the first three but then suffered a knock that kept him out which luckily coincided with Norgaard’s return from injury. Norgaard has certainly made an impact on his return with a strong performance against Manchester City and then goals against Leyton Orient in the Carabao Cup and in the 5-3 victory against Wolves.

With Josh Da Silva another long-term injury absentee there have been opportunities on the bench for 18-year-old Turk Yunus Konak who signed from Sivasspor in 2024, 21-year-old Ryan Trevitt, who spent half of last season on loan at Exeter, and 20-year-old Ukrainian Yehor Yarmoliuk, who faced Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson in the last international break playing for the Ukrainian U21s.

<h1>Attackers </h1>

Ivan Toney scored 72 goals in 141 appearances for Brentford and was always going to be hard to replace. But that gap has gone a long way to being filled by Bryan Mbeumo’s goalscoring form.

The Cameroonian has six goals in seven appearances so far this season. His record for an entire season is nine and he’s likely to beat that this year as his pace in behind and clincal finishing has already caused problems for lots of teams.

That goalscoring burden was further spread across the team with the early season form of Yoan Wissa, who scored three goals in four games before suffering an injury that looked set to keep him out until the end of November. He came off the bench against Manchester United, however, and could be fit enough to start this one.

The injury crisis that hit the Bees defenders and midfielders also hit the forward line when new signing Igor Thiago who arrived in the summer from Club Brugge for £30 million in a club record deal but suffered a meniscus injury in pre-season that could keep him out until the turn of the year. He scored 18 goals in 34 appearances in the Belgian Pro League last year and was originally seen as Toney’s replacement.

Another big money signing is Kevin Schade, who joined the previous year from SC Freiburg but also suffered an injury that kept him out for a large chunk of last season. He’s a more versatile forward than Thiago and can play anywhere across the fronlline.

He’s featured in all seven of Brentford’s games so far and has recently spent time in the German squad. He needs to work on his finishing as he’s yet to score but has already missed four big chances.

To further strengthen the attacking department Brentford raided Liverpool for a second time, signing Fabio Carvalho for £27.5 million. Carvalho, who once again impressed in a Championship loan spell with Hull last year, has been used mainly off the bench so far but is in good recent form.

A goal and an assist in the Carabao Cup against Leyton Orient has been followed-up with an assist against West Ham and a goal against Wolves. He’ll desperate to take his opportunity when it comes and prove he can cut it in the Premier League.

All of the injuries have opened the door for Keane Lewis-Potter. The highly rated prospect also signed from Hull back in 2022 but only made 10 appearances in his first season.

Last year, that improved with 30 appearances (15 of which were starts). He’s already started five this season with his versatility proving a key factor in that, playing left wing in the games that Brentford have been dominant but dropping back to fill in at left wing-back in games against Manchester City and Tottenham.

<h1>The Teams </h1>

Team selection is very much the topic of conversation this week after back-to-back defeats. Who plays at right-back, do Town switch to a 4-3-3, should Omari move to the right, Sammie Szmodics or Conor Chaplin down the middle?

Below is what I'd go for for this one. I think there will be personnel changes but I can’t see the formation switch. McKenna has drilled his players to his philosophy and I can’t see that changing.

I keep pushing for Chaplin to play as I feel he can really link-up play in that number ten role a lot better will be able to play balls to whoever is on the right wing more effectively.

For Brentford, the goalkeeper and backline look set to stay consistent. Norgaard and Janelt have paired up for the last couple of games in midfield and are likely to stay there. Where there could be changes is up front.

With Wissa fit again, Damsgaard could drop deeper into midfield with Wissa, Mbeumo and Schade forming a front three. This would also get the best out of Schade who looks more comfortable off the left rather than down the middle.

<h1>Prediction </h1>

Every point is a prisoner and this is certainly no easy task. Brentford will be well drilled and organised at home. The fact that they have faced one of the highest numbers of shots in the league should boost Town’s confidence but if they are going to get anything out of this they have to be clinical.

It’s a case of hope more than expectation for this one. If we already had a win on the board this is one of those that you’d be happy coming away with a point but it very much depends on team selection for me. Probably because of pessimism after the last couple of performances, I’m going for a 1-0 defeat.

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