Brentford visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on matchday five of the Premier League with Ange Postecoglou’s charges hoping to bounce back from successive league defeats at the hands of Newcastle United and Arsenal.
A late win over Coventry City in the Carabao Cup’s third round on Wednesday saved their blushes and a clash against Thomas Frank’s men is about to present them with the opportunity to grab just their third win of the season in all competitions, in six attempts.
Brennan Johnson got on the scoresheet against Coventry to put an end to a poor start to the season and will be expected to break his duck in the Premier League too, while Dominic Solanke will be under similar pressure to score his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur.
Team News
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur have no suspensions to serve against Brentford but four players are likely to remain absent. Richarlison and Wilson Odobert are expected to carry injuries for the next couple of weeks at least, while Timo Werner and Yves Bissouma are doubtful with relatively minor issues.
Son Heung-min is going to be available and the captain will need to leave the way if Spurs are to overcome Brentford. In general, Tottenham Hotspur have been wasteful in front of goal all season and face a race against time to better their efficiency before more points can be dropped.
A lack of offensive options means both underperformers from recent weeks, Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke, will get nods from the first whistle.
PREDICTED TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR XI (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Maddison, Kulusevski; Johnson, Solanke, Son
Brentford
Thomas Frank, likely Ange Postecoglou, has no suspension headaches but his injury issues are far graver than the Australian’s in the early days of the season.
Aaron Hickey, Gustavo Gomes, Thiago Rodrigues, Joshua Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Rico Henry and Yoane Wissa are definitely going to miss out. Wissa’s injury is a particularly strong blow for Brentford, given that he has struck thrice and assisted once in the Premier League this season.
German striker Kevin Schade is likely to replace the Congo striker and will be determined to prove a point in the next two months while Wissa remains out.
PREDICTED BRENTFORD XI (4-3-3): Flekken; Ajer, van den Berg, Pinnock, Collins; Damsgaard, Norgaard, Janelt; Mbuemo, Schade, Lewis-Potter
Key stats
- Tottenham Hotspur hold the upper hand against Brenford in 48 meetings with 25 wins to their name in all competitions.
- Despite Spurs’ upper hand against Brentford in the overall context of things, they have won just twice in their last six meetings against Thomas Frank’s men.
Match-deciding duel
Heung-min Son vs Kristoffer Ajer
More than half of Tottenham’s problems would be resolved in the final third if Heung-min Son enters a good run of form. Having been substandard against Arsenal, the Brentford fixture is the perfect opportunity for him to bounce back.
The Bees could be underconfident coming into the game having lost their best player of this season so far, Yoane Wissa, to an injury last weekend and Tottenham’s captain can look to exploit them.
Prediction
Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Brentford
Bryan Mbuemo has done well for Brentford this season but the pressure against Tottenham could be a bit too much for him to handle without his partner in crime, Wissa. Thus, Frank’s men are likely to struggle offensively.
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Meanwhile, Tottenham have done everything apart from scoring this season but their poor luck in front of goal will not last forever. They are likely to prevail against Brentford with Ange Postecoglou finding the right solution.
