Brentford’s third season in the Premier League kicks off at home to Tottenham on Sunday and after defying all expectations to finish ninth last time out, Thomas Frank’s side will be out to prove they haven’t just been overachieving and are indeed a legitimate top-ten Premier League side.

Last season, the Bees emphatically answered any questions about second season syndrome with an inaugural top-half finish. The West Londoners never dropped below 11th place in the table and successfully built on their 13th place finish in 2021/22.

Much of that success was built on the goals of hitman Ivan Toney, but the England striker will miss the first half of the season due to his eight-month ban for gambling offences, meaning new firepower will need to be found.

Season Prediction

Having missed out on European football by just two points last season, it would be a logical assumption that Brentford will be gunning for at least a Europa Conference League place come May. 

However, as Leicester City’s demise showed the world last season, previous achievements don’t guarantee future success.

Looking beyond their miraculous title win in 2016, the Foxes finished fifth in 2020/21 with 66 points and eighth in 2021/22 with 52 points, before a shock relegation last term sent them back to the Championship for the first time in nearly a decade.

Brentford will be wary of this and can’t afford for complacency to creep in.

The goal for any side that’s not traditionally been in the ‘Big Six’ is to first and foremost stay in the division and the Bees are no different.

However, if they play the sort of football that saw them beat Manchester City home and away last campaign, then any fear of the drop will be allayed long before Christmas.

However, cracking Europe won’t be easy.  

It will be hugely surprising if Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t turnaround the fortunes of Chelsea and they don’t challenge for Europe whilst Tottenham will be looking to finishing higher than eighth.

Finishing in the top seven is going to be more competitive than ever and I don’t think Brentford will be able to do it, especially without 20-goal striker Toney.

That said, Frank has demonstrated he’s got a well-oiled team operating at GTech Community Stadium and there is no reason why another comfortable upper mid-table finish should not be the minimum.

Prediction: 11th

Key Player

Come the end of the season, Toney may still prove to be Brentford’s key player but in his early season absence, that mantle will have to be picked up by somebody else. That somebody else could well be winger Bryan Mbeumo.

The Cameroon international scored nine times and registered eight assists last season and now has the ideal opportunity to become Brentford’s leading man.

Despite being withdrawn early in Brentford’s final pre-season friendly against Lille on Saturday, Frank expects the 24-year-old to feature against Tottenham and, at the time of writing, remains the seventh most popular midfielder on Premier League Fantasy Football, showing fans across the country are well aware of his ability.

Young Gun

Best remembered by English football fans for his free kick against England in the Euro 2020 semifinal, Mikkel Damsgaard will be hoping his second season in the Premier League is a lot more fruitful than his first.

The Dane made 26 league appearances last year in a campaign which signalled that the 23-year-old might finally be back following his injury troubles, but failed to truly impress himself on either the Brentford faithful, or the wider Premier League.

Brentford will be hoping Damsgaard can finally showcase his talents and follow in the footsteps of fellow countryman and former Bee Christian Eriksen.  

Players In

The next generation of Beckham may be on the books at Brentford as David’s son Romeo joined Brentford B from Inter Miami, but the real headline signing is another defender, Republic of Ireland international centre-back Nathan Collins.

Brentford splashed £23 million, and in the process broke their transfer record, on the 22-year-old who will most likely become the rock of Frank’s defence.

Goalkeeper Mark Flekken’s arrival from SC Freiburg for £11 million surely signals the end of David Raya’s time in West London, with the Spaniard looking all set for a move across the capital to Arsenal.

Kevin Schade has had his loan move from SC Freiburg made permanent and while the German will bolster Frank’s attacking options, there’s still time for striking reinforcements to be brought in to plug the Toney-sized gap up front.

It could prove to be a shrewd piece of business bringing in South Korean centre-back Kim Ji-soo from K-League Two side Seongnam.

The 18-year-old garnered interest from German giants Bayern Munich.

Players Out

With Raya still a Brentford player, for now, and Toney’s ban seemingly halting any pursuits of the Englishman, the most notable outgoing so far is Swede Pontus Jansson.

The former Leeds centre-back spent four years at Brentford and played a key role in both their promotion to the Premier League in 2021 and their survival during their first season.  

Having found himself more on the periphery of Frank’s plans last campaign, it was no surprise to see him released at the end of June.

The departure of midfielder Mads Bidstrup to Red Bull Salzburg for €6 million has so far been the biggest transfer fee received by Brentford, while Tariqe Fosu and Saman Ghoddos both departed on free transfers.

Best Run of Fixtures

Brentford’s season has the potential to be characterised as ‘the storm before the calm before the storm’ when looking at the fixtures they have been dealt.

The calm is set to come in December and the first half of January as Frank’s side have a seven-game run which includes five home matches against Luton, Sheffield Utd, Aston Villa, Wolves and Nottingham Forest.  

Sandwiched in between those are visits to Brighton and Crystal Palace and if Brentford wish to achieve another top-half finish, they must be greedy when it comes to acquiring points over the festive season.

2nd Dec – Luton (H), 5th Dec – BHA (A), 9th Dec – Sheffield Utd (H), 16th Dec – Aston Villa (H),  

26th Dec – Wolves (H), 30th Dec – Palace (A), 13th Jan – Forest (H).

Hardest Run of Fixtures

The first storm of the season is due in October and November when Brentford face Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all away from home with Arsenal visiting the Brentford Community stadium for good measure.

However, the larger and more dangerous storm is forecast at the end of January and isn’t set to pass until the start of March.  

Two trips to North London to face Tottenham and Arsenal respectively bookend home clashes against Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea.  

Visits to Wolves and West Ham could provide shelter during this period as a points haul anywhere close to double figures would be an achievement.

30th Jan – Tottenham (A), 3rd Feb – Man City (H), 10th Feb – Wolves (A), 17th Feb – Liverpool (H),  

24th Feb – West Ham (A), 2nd Mar – Chelsea (H), 9th Mar – Arsenal (A).