Brentford host Tottenham Hotspur at GTECH Community Stadium in a London derby on opening weekend of 2023-24 Premier League season.
Thomas Frank’s Bees are looking to build upon their strong campaign of last season which saw them finish ninth in the table.
Tottenham meanwhile are under new management of Ange Postecoglou who has enjoyed success with Celtic in recent seasons in Scotland, but the English top-flight is a different beast to any of his previous leagues as he makes his bow.
Team News
Bryan Mbeumo is set to be available for Brentford despite having suffered a dead leg in their goalless friendly draw against Lille last weekend.
Frank Onyeka (knock) and Christian Norgaard (fitness) are doubts but could make the bench if pass late fitness tests.
Ivan Toney remains suspended as he continues to serve his ban for breach of betting rules until mid-January.
Mark Flekken and Nathan Collins could make their competitive debuts for the Bees here.
Tottenham could be without midfielder, Tanguy Ndombele who faces a late fitness test as he continues to adapt to manager – Ange Postecoglou’s physical style of play.
Fraser Forster (back), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Bryan Gil (groin), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee) and Alfie Whiteman (ankle) are ruled out.
Guglielmo Vicario, James Maddison, Manor Solomon, Ashley Phillips, Mickey van de Den and Alejo Veliz could make their competitive debuts for Spurs.
When is Kick-Off?
Brentford meet Tottenham at GTECH Community Stadium on Sunday 13 August in a 2pm BST kick-off live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Brentford are unbeaten in three of four previous Premier League meetings against Tottenham (W1, D2, L1).
- Tottenham have drawn each of their two previous Premier League visits to Brentford (D2), having been held to a 0-0 result in April 2022 before drawing 2-2 in December 2022.
- Spurs’ Harry Kane scored in each of his last two appearances against Brentford (D1, L1).
- Brentford kept just one clean sheet in pre-season (W1, D3, L2), which came in a goalless draw against Lille.
- Spurs conceded first in three of theiir four pre-season friendlies (W2, L2), coming back to win just one of the three friendlies in which they conceded first.
Prediction
Although pre-season has been quite mixed for Brentford, it has been a chance for them to experiment whilst building upon the positives of last season, which they finished well with one defeat in their last seven league games especially without Toney in their final three games.
Frank though seems to have taken bit of a risk in not bring in another striker in Tony’s absence, because if there is an injury crisis up front before January then I do worry for them slightly in terms of goals.
Tottenham meanwhile have their own issues with Harry Kane having left the club this weekend but it offers Richarlison an opportunity to step up as the central striker, which is something that he must take after a difficult campaign for Spurs last season.
Postecoglou though is in for a tough debut in the dugout because not only is he dealing with his Premier League bow, but also a London derby which is a tough ask on debut especially with Spurs’ leaky defence which has been a huge issue in pre-season despite their ability to score goal.
Losing Harry Kane so close to the new campaign will also be a huge blow for Postecoglou and his team who must quickly regroup, and work out how to maximise their performances without their lead goal threat which is something that Brentford will be eager to ask questions of quickly.
Either way, I don’t expect a goalless contest but if Spurs are as leaky as they’ve been in pre-season and show signs of missing Kane’s presence up front, Brentford should have enough to get an opening win.
Prediction: Brentford 2-1 Tottenham
Result: Brentford 2-2 Tottenham
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