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Preview: Thomas Frank preparing to lead Spurs against former club Brentford

Preview: Thomas Frank preparing to lead Spurs against former club Brentford

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Spurs welcome Brentford to The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon hoping to end a run of dismal home form, but Brentford have strong motivation for wanting to win this particular match.

By Ian King

A point at Newcastle gave Spurs a glimmer of optimism, but Brentford will be eyeing revenge on the head coach who spurned them

If nothing else, the cause for a glimmer of optimism on the part of Tottenham Hotspur at Newcastle on Tuesday night was certainly a surprising one. A 95th-minute overhead kick from Cristian Romero, of all things, salvaged a 2-2 draw from their trip to Tyneside and may have calmed the feeling of panic that had started to feel as though it was reaching a crescendo after their home defeat to Fulham last Saturday. 

Brentford remain paragons of inconsistency. Their 2-0 defeat at Arsenal in midweek retained a WLWLWL record which now stretches back six games. The two teams are tied on 19 points in the Premier League, with Spurs two places above the Bees on the basis of their superior goal difference. 

But the added spice to this match is, of course, the Frank factor. Thomas Frank left Brentford for Tottenham during the summer, and the Bees’ desire to put one over their old boss will surely be very high indeed.

Brentford’s 2023 win at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was their first against Spurs since 1948

Brentford’s 3-1 win at Spurs in May 2023 was their first against Tottenham since 1948. Of course, the two teams had primarily only met in cup competitions, but Spurs’ record against the Bees has been pretty good since Brentford were promoted to the Premier League in 2022. 

They have won four and drawn three of their eight meetings since then, and even when the bottom was falling out of their 2024/25 season they managed a league double over the Bees, winning 3-1 at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and 2-0 at The Brentford Community Stadium.

Spurs are going to need to pay very close attention to the Premier League’s second-highest goalscorer

Erling Haaland may draw all the headlines at the top of the Premier League top goalscorers list, but Igor Thiago has been quietly getting on with doing the business for Brentford this season too. He’s in second place behind Haaland with 11 goals in 14 games, and Spurs will need to pay extra attention to a striker who’s on that sort of hot streak.

Both of Spurs’ goals at Newcastle came from a central defender, so they could do with a big performance from an attacking player against Brentford. Richarlison is their top scorer in the Premier League with five goals, but he was only on the bench for the Newcastle match. Getting back to the sort of form that saw him score against both Manchester United and Arsenal would be very handy for Frank, if selected.

Thiago should return to Brentford’s starting XI, while Micky Van de Ven should return to the Spurs defence

Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson is eligible again after being unable to face his parent club during the week, but Antoni Milambo, Josh Dasilva and Fabio Carvalho all remain out with varying degrees of knee injury. Igor Thiago only played the last half-hour of the Arsenal match after picking up a knock against Burnley, but should return to their starting XI. 

Spurs are still missing James Maddison (ACL), Radu Dragusin (ACL), Kota Takai (thigh), Yves Bissouma (ankle), Dejan Kulusevski (knee) and Dominic Solanke (though Dragusin and Takai are both understood to be close to returning), but they didn’t pick up any fresh injuries at Newcastle. 

With a Champions League match against Slavia Prague to follow on Tuesday, Thomas Frank may look to rotate again, which could mean a return for Richarlison. Micky Van de Ven was also rested at Newcastle, but will likely return to their central defence in place of Kevin Danso.

Spurs are a degree calmer than they were following the Newcastle game, but Brentford have the capability to hurt them

Picking up a draw at Newcastle in the week has calmed The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a little, but playing the club that your head coach left you for the following weekend isn’t necessarily ideal timing for a team who still haven’t won at home in the League since the opening weekend of the season. 

Brentford are hardly going to need motivating for this particular match, but the fact remains that if you strip all the Thomas Frank-related emotion out of this match, Spurs desperately need a home win. The pressure to return to winning ways is now rising with every game that they fail to do so. 

The form of Igor Thiago is an obvious concern for them, but Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero are a strong centre-back pairing, so much of what happens on Saturday will likely come down to the extent to which Spurs’ extended spell of the home yips lasts. Nervy, skittish Tottenham lose this match. A bit of colour in their cheeks Tottenham can comfortably win it. 

I suspect that on this occasion the answer will be somewhere in between. There’s nothing between these two teams in the League, but Brentford are nothing if not inconsistent, though it may be enough motivation for the Bees to stick a photo of Thomas Frank on the back of the dressing room door for the players to throw darts at before the match. Spurs should win this one, but Brentford have the opportunity for revenge and the in-form striker. I’ll go for a 1-1 draw which leaves both sides feeling vaguely unsatisfied from it all.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Preview: Thomas Frank preparing to lead Spurs against former club Brentford

Spurs welcome Brentford to The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon hoping to end a run of dismal home form, but Brentford have strong motivation for wanting to win this particular match.

By Ian King

A point at Newcastle gave Spurs a glimmer of optimism, but Brentford will be eyeing revenge on the head coach who spurned them

If nothing else, the cause for a glimmer of optimism on the part of Tottenham Hotspur at Newcastle on Tuesday night was certainly a surprising one. A 95th-minute overhead kick from Cristian Romero, of all things, salvaged a 2-2 draw from their trip to Tyneside and may have calmed the feeling of panic that had started to feel as though it was reaching a crescendo after their home defeat to Fulham last Saturday. 

Brentford remain paragons of inconsistency. Their 2-0 defeat at Arsenal in midweek retained a WLWLWL record which now stretches back six games. The two teams are tied on 19 points in the Premier League, with Spurs two places above the Bees on the basis of their superior goal difference. 

But the added spice to this match is, of course, the Frank factor. Thomas Frank left Brentford for Tottenham during the summer, and the Bees’ desire to put one over their old boss will surely be very high indeed.

Brentford’s 2023 win at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was their first against Spurs since 1948

Brentford’s 3-1 win at Spurs in May 2023 was their first against Tottenham since 1948. Of course, the two teams had primarily only met in cup competitions, but Spurs’ record against the Bees has been pretty good since Brentford were promoted to the Premier League in 2022. 

They have won four and drawn three of their eight meetings since then, and even when the bottom was falling out of their 2024/25 season they managed a league double over the Bees, winning 3-1 at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and 2-0 at The Brentford Community Stadium.

Spurs are going to need to pay very close attention to the Premier League’s second-highest goalscorer

Erling Haaland may draw all the headlines at the top of the Premier League top goalscorers list, but Igor Thiago has been quietly getting on with doing the business for Brentford this season too. He’s in second place behind Haaland with 11 goals in 14 games, and Spurs will need to pay extra attention to a striker who’s on that sort of hot streak.

Both of Spurs’ goals at Newcastle came from a central defender, so they could do with a big performance from an attacking player against Brentford. Richarlison is their top scorer in the Premier League with five goals, but he was only on the bench for the Newcastle match. Getting back to the sort of form that saw him score against both Manchester United and Arsenal would be very handy for Frank, if selected.

Thiago should return to Brentford’s starting XI, while Micky Van de Ven should return to the Spurs defence

Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson is eligible again after being unable to face his parent club during the week, but Antoni Milambo, Josh Dasilva and Fabio Carvalho all remain out with varying degrees of knee injury. Igor Thiago only played the last half-hour of the Arsenal match after picking up a knock against Burnley, but should return to their starting XI. 

Spurs are still missing James Maddison (ACL), Radu Dragusin (ACL), Kota Takai (thigh), Yves Bissouma (ankle), Dejan Kulusevski (knee) and Dominic Solanke (though Dragusin and Takai are both understood to be close to returning), but they didn’t pick up any fresh injuries at Newcastle. 

With a Champions League match against Slavia Prague to follow on Tuesday, Thomas Frank may look to rotate again, which could mean a return for Richarlison. Micky Van de Ven was also rested at Newcastle, but will likely return to their central defence in place of Kevin Danso.

Spurs are a degree calmer than they were following the Newcastle game, but Brentford have the capability to hurt them

Picking up a draw at Newcastle in the week has calmed The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a little, but playing the club that your head coach left you for the following weekend isn’t necessarily ideal timing for a team who still haven’t won at home in the League since the opening weekend of the season. 

Brentford are hardly going to need motivating for this particular match, but the fact remains that if you strip all the Thomas Frank-related emotion out of this match, Spurs desperately need a home win. The pressure to return to winning ways is now rising with every game that they fail to do so. 

The form of Igor Thiago is an obvious concern for them, but Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero are a strong centre-back pairing, so much of what happens on Saturday will likely come down to the extent to which Spurs’ extended spell of the home yips lasts. Nervy, skittish Tottenham lose this match. A bit of colour in their cheeks Tottenham can comfortably win it. 

I suspect that on this occasion the answer will be somewhere in between. There’s nothing between these two teams in the League, but Brentford are nothing if not inconsistent, though it may be enough motivation for the Bees to stick a photo of Thomas Frank on the back of the dressing room door for the players to throw darts at before the match. Spurs should win this one, but Brentford have the opportunity for revenge and the in-form striker. I’ll go for a 1-1 draw which leaves both sides feeling vaguely unsatisfied from it all.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.