Tottenham welcome Brentford to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur plays hosts to London rivals Brentford on Saturday lunchtime, looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League.
The Lilywhites managed to end their three-game losing run in all competitions by holding Newcastle United to a 2-2 draw in midweek. In all fairness, they were fortunate to escape with a point from St James’ Park after being dominated by the hosts for large periods. It took a piece of brilliance from skipper Cristian Romero in the 95th minute to stop Spurs from losing their fourth game in a row.
Thomas Frank is aware that his team is struggling with confidence at the moment. While they were second-best pretty much in every department, the Dane was satisfied with his team’s spirit and character to come back twice and get a point at a difficult stadium. However, things do not get easy for Tottenham, as Frank faces his former club Brentford at the weekend.
Tottenham vs Brentford – Match preview and head to head
A point against Newcastle helped Tottenham to move from 12th to 11th in the Premier League table. Since beating Everton 3-0 away back in October, Frank and Co. have dropped points in each of their five league games. They have tasted defeats in each of their last three London derbies, so the pressure is totally on Spurs to change things when Brentford visit N17.
As for Brentford, they are a team in transition having lost their manager to Tottenham and several key players in the summer to their Premier League rivals. Under new manager Keith Andrews, the Bees have been a formidable unit at home, beating the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool this season. However, their away form has been worrying, as the west Londoners head across the capital on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.
Overall, Tottenham and Brentford have played each other only nine in all competitions. Spurs have the upper hand with five wins to the Bees’ one, with three games ending in a draw. The Lilywhites have historically dominated this fixture and have won each of their last three games against the west Londoners.
Tottenham vs Brentford – Team news
Tottenham were handed a double injury boost ahead of Saturday’s game with defenders Kota Takai and Radu Dragusin featuring in behind-closed-doors friendly against Dagenham earlier this week. However, the duo are unlikely to be involved against Brentford.
Frank still remains without the services of Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Dominic Solanke and Yves Bissouma.
On the other hand, Brentford will welcome back Reiss Nelson to the back after he was ineligible to face his parent club Arsenal in midweek. Meanwhile, Fabio Carvalho and Antoni Milambo remain long-term casualties.
Prediction
Frank would have been happy with Tottenham’s result at Newcastle but not the performance. The north Londoners were poor in ball retention, lacking energy and physicality, and not threatening the Newcastle backline enough. There are question marks around several players and whether they will be able to cope with Brentford’s physical approach at the weekend. We feel it is going to be another long day at home for Spurs and our fans.
Tottenham 2-2 Brentford
