Brentford return to The Gtech on Sunday. A pair of 2-0 losses in North London at Arsenal and then Spurs is now followed by the weekend’s visit from Leeds United.
Keith Andrews will no doubt be relishing the opportunity to play in front of the Bees’ own fans once more, rather than stuck on a road to hell that has seen seven reverses out of eight played. Yet, if he thinks this one will be easy, then think again. It’s blinkin’ Leeds United, Dirty Leeds, Cheating Leeds. As one North Stand observer opined to me during the week, they’re going to kill us with their 1970s football.
There’s nothing like having a bit of confidence in the team, eh, but he’s right to be wary. Whilst in recent seasons we’ve had the pleasure of seeing Keith Stroud helpfully point Jesse Marsch to the back of the stand during that 5-2 tonking handed out in September 2022, it is the only time that Brentford have beaten Leeds in the top flight.
Even worse, the meeting prior (that being the final fixture of the previous campaign) saw United ensure Premier League survival after scoring a late winner at the Gtech. Sending them down – which would have happened had the Bees taken the points – would have been up there in our most enjoyable moments of all time. Instead, nine-man Brentford (injuries / Canos red card after already being booked for celebrating his equaliser) succumbed to late, late defeat.
The one plus point from that result, if there can be one, is more long-term. It turns out Leeds hate coming to London even more than Brentford fancy away games this season. Since that afternoon, the Whites have lost nine successive top-flight fixtures in the capital. It is quite a spectacular run of anti-form that includes a 5-0 loss at Arsenal and 1-0 at Fulham already this campaign.
Whilst it is hard to take any pleasure from seeing Fulham win, that game at the Cottage saw a classic falling apart (again) as Gabriel Gudmundsson’s 94th-minute own goal ensured they returned to Elland Road empty-handed.
With the Bees pulling off some wonderful results at home under Keith Andrews, it would seem to be a case of a hurricane coming up against a straw shack. Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Newcastle have already been blown away, so surely this should be a cake walk?
Potato skin alert! If only football were that predictable. And don’t call me Shirley. It’s anything but. You can’t guarantee a single thing in this game, and let’s not forget, probably more important, that spirits will be high in Yorkshire once more. They’ve thumped Chelsea and then had that morale-boosting last-gap draw with Liverpool in their most recent two games.
Daniel James and Sean Longstaff are both missing, but current manager Daniel Farke may well be able to reunite Lukas Nmecha with the currently ‘on-song’ Dominic Calvert-Lewin in attack. Otherwise, they should be as they were.
For Brentford, Kevin Schade is suspended after being booked at Spurs, so one can only imagine that, given the options available to him, Keith will slot Keane Lewis-Potter out wide. It is a position he became known for before his role as emergency wing-back saw such wonderful rewards reaped in that position.
It has to be 4-3-3, and it has to be Rico Henry on the left side of defence. It’s now time for Keith to stop messing around there and impose the Ajer sanction. Great though the defender is, he needs to be further across. Moreso when we have naturals to call upon. End of.
It’s going to be feisty. It’s going to be boisterous. It’s going to be a lot of fun on Sunday afternoon. It always is. As much for the potential for being able to break out ‘that’ song. No matter how much they may have had no choice but to try and seize the irony and adapt it themselves (in a “Who the f*&k are Man United” style), you can beat that, deep down, it must hurt like hell when it happens. Again.
Here’s to our chance to inflict a bit more pain. Bring it on and see you there.
