Brentford vs Tottenham Hotspur tips: Spurs kick off new era under Ange Postecoglou
Brentford welcomes Tottenham Hotspur to the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday and we’re expecting Spurs to make a slow start to life under Ange Postecoglou.
Date, KO time and TV coverage
Premier League, Sunday, August 12, Kick-off 2pm BST, live on Sky Sports Main Event
Predicted score
Brentford 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Team news
Brentford have a few worries ahead of their first Premier League match, with Bryan Mbeumo (thigh), Frank Onyeka (muscle) and Christian Norgaard (leg) all doubts.
Tottenham will be without Rodrigo Bentancur for the long-term with a knee problem. To make matters worse, Ryan Sessegnon (thigh), Bryan Gil (groin), Fraser Forster (back), Tanguy Ndombele (fitness) and Alfie Whiteman (ankle) are also unavailable.
Brentford vs Tottenham Hotspur Verdict
Since their promotion to the Premier League, Brentford have turned their home ground into a point-winning fortress.
Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City are all clubs who left the Gtech Stadium empty handed in recent times. Brentford will be looking to add Tottenham to that list.
Speaking of Spurs, the club have been busy in the transfer market, signing James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Dejan Kulusevski, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario and Alejo Veliz.
They’ll now need to integrate a number of new players, which always takes time, and adapt to Ange Postecoglou’s style while hoping they can retain Harry Kane.
There is a lot going on at the club right now but high expectations, coupled with Ivan Toney’s ban, has seen the bookmakers sway heavily towards the visitors.
Brentford are much more than a one-man team and continuity and a clear understanding of your structure count for a lot at any level of football.
Manager Thomas Frank is tactically flexible and the Bees have had plenty of time to work on their structure without top scorer Toney.
The only teams to win away at Brentford last season were Arsenal and Newcastle, while Frank’s men kept clean sheets against Man Utd, Chelsea, Brighton and Man City.
During pre-season, the notable difference about Spurs was just how keen they were to attack. Their pragmatic approach has been a boring watch in recent years, and fans are expecting something a little more exciting this season.
Under Postecoglou we saw ball retention, high pressing, runs from deep and territorial dominance in pre-season – and lots of goals.
Spurs provided a constant threat with payers popping up all over the place, but they also looked vulnerable at the back, conceding nine goals in four matches.
This pattern of their game appears to be set. Tottenham are going to dominate the ball and Brentford will set about to frustrate them and hit them on the break.
While there are reasons to be optimistic if you’re a Spurs fan, it’s fair to say that their transition is far from complete. With that in mind, we’ll take punts on Brentford scoring first and winning.
