Thomas Frank isn’t just being nice when he says Newcastle United will present Brentford with their toughest test on home soil this season – the Bees boss knows what he’s talking about.
Eddie Howe takes his Magpies south this weekend to face a Brentford side with the best home record in the Premier League this season, with Frank’s men formidable on home turf. The facts make for ominous reading, especially for a Newcastle side who can sometimes fall short on the road.
Brentford have picked up 19 points from their seven home games at the Gtech Community Stadium so far this season – six wins and a draw – with their one failure to win coming in a 1-1 draw with West Ham back in September. They’ve scored an incredible 22 goals in the process which, for context, is significantly the best record in the division.
Liverpool have only managed 13 at Anfield, Man City have hit 15 at the Etihad, while Arsenal’s record of 17 at the Emirates is the only one to come close. So there can be little doubt that United are in for a tough afternoon.
However, all is not quite what it seems. While it would be foolish to diminish Brentford’s achievements, and they will certainly provide a stern test for Howe’s men, you could argue that they have yet to face a serious challenge on home soil.
The six wins have come against – with respect – Crystral Palace, Southampton, Wolves, Ipswich, Bournemouth and Leicester. Of that group, only Bournemouth are not struggling for points at the bottom end of the table.
After hitting three goals past Liverpool in midweek, Howe will no doubt be acutely aware that Brentford have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their home games this season. Of course, that doesn’t matter if you outscore your opponents, but it’s another potential chink in the armour for Untied to exploit.
So who were the last team to win at Brentford? You only have to wind the clock back to May when none other than Newcastle United stormed to a 4-2 victory on a sunny day which brought the curtain down on the 2023-24 campaign. It was the third time United had won at the stadium under Howe, after the 2-0 success in 2022 and a 2-1 victory in 2023. Good omens indeed.
Of course no one is suggesting it will be anything but a difficult game for Newcastle’s stars this weekend. But there are reasons for optimism, and not just because of the performance against Liverpool.
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