Premier League: Points at a Premium for Spurs and Brentford 

Tottenham Hotspur vs Brentford

Premier League action returns to North London on Wednesday when top four chasing Tottenham Hotspur welcome Brentford for a mouth-watering capital city clash. 

Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs come into the game on the back of a 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City while Thomas Frank’s Brentford got back to winning ways with a 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest. And this game, Premier League: Tottenham vs Brentford gives both teams a chance to earn three vital points. Tottenham are in fifth place while Brentford, currently in 14^th are in the relegation mix.

There’s a full programme of top flight football this week and this clash is one of SBOTOP’s top picks; so let’s take a closer look at the two teams and gauge the mood on the training pitch.   

Talking Points

Angry Spurs vow to make amends  

Any hopes that Ange Postecoglou’s exciting start as Tottenham manager would bring some long-awaited silverware were quickly ended by Manchester City on Friday night.

Now the remaining objective is for Spurs to claim a top-four position, and that battle will be extremely competitive. The Whites were outplayed by the Sky Blues for much of the game, though it looked like City’s five-year run of failing to score away to Spurs was about to continue until Nathan Ake popped up with an 88th-minute winner.

Tottenham winger Dejan Kulusevski, back from injury, shared his frustration after the defeat, insisting his team-mates were all frustrated and vowed to make it up to the Spurs fans: “One thing that this result gives us is the hunger – because nobody wants to lose, “ he said. “You’re very angry and ready to come back stronger. Now we only have the Premier League. We are still there, and have players coming back. We have two very important games coming next and need to take six points.”

As well as Kulusevski, creative midfielder James Maddison made a comeback from long term injury and he is sure to start against the Bees.   

Toney is back, so what does that mean for the Bees?

One swallow does not make a summer, but the return of Ivan Toney to the Brentford front line last week breathed life into the Bees’ campaign, which looked in serious danger of falling off the rails.

Five consecutive league defeats and an FA Cup exit made it a miserable festive period for the Bees, and so to pick up a win in a relegation six-pointer against Forest was huge.

Toney scored a goal on his return, and he is sure to make some Tottenham vs Brentford highlights on Wednesday. His 19th-minute free kick sailed into the net, and the roof almost came off the Gtech Community Stadium roof.

There has been a lot of speculation around Toney’s immediate future, with the player linked to Arsenal. But Frank is keen to keep him at Brentford, and the club has just made an audacious move in the market to agree to a £25 million deal with Club Brugge to sign winger Antonio Nusa, a player Spurs were considering a move for.

Back to the current squad, while Toney’s return has made the headlines, centre-back Ben Mee is also back in action and that is arguably just as important to the Bees’ survival campaign.

He scored Brentford’s second goal against Forest and Mee is one of the Premier League’s best defenders, a tough tackler with superb positional sense. If the Bees can win the battles in each penalty area they will be just fine.          

History

Tottenham Hotspur have won two of the six previous encounters while Brentford have won one and there have been three draws. The two teams drew 2-2 on the opening day of this season as Spurs started life without Harry Kane.

Spurs are yet to draw at home, winning seven and losing three of their ten home matches while the Bees have lost their last five games on the road; and the pre-match Premier League 2024 betting odds say both trends are likely to continue.

Betting Tip

At odds of 1.56 Tottenham are backed to win this game and I’m inclined to agree. Postecoglou’s side were outclassed at times by Manchester City but that is no disgrace, and his players did produce some high intensity and quick passing football and they are not about to stop.

Brentford, with Toney back in the fold, can’t be ruled out at a price of 4.32 and the draw is at 3.90, and I think this will be an entertaining game with goals, but a comfortable win for the hosts.     

 

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