Match Preview: Brentford v Tottenham Hotspur | OneFootball

Brentford host Tottenham Hotspur at Gtech Community Stadium in the Premier League on New Year's Day (8pm kick-off GMT), live on Sky Sports.

The Bees have defeated Wolves and Bournemouth in their last two outings, while Thomas Frank's Spurs beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park on Sunday.

Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the game.

Pre-match Analysis

Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: The stock of set-pieces has never been higher

Brentford's New Year’s Day clash with Tottenham Hotspur will bring two set-piece masters face to face.

Under former boss Thomas Frank, Brentford established themselves as one of the Premier League’s deadliest set-piece sides - while the Bees’ current head coach Keith Andrews earned his spurs as the west Londoners’ dedicated set-piece specialist.

Frank returns to the Gtech for the first time since moving to north London in the summer, now trailing his former employers by a single point in the table, and a pulsating London derby is in store.

The Dane stated in a recent interview that he regards a negative set-piece goal difference as “impossible” - and, although Tottenham remain a team in transition, he has already had a clear impact in this area.

Although they lifted the Europa League last season under Ange Postecoglou, Spurs finished a lowly 17th in the Premier League, and their numbers from last term show that they often failed to come alive when the ball went dead.

Under Frank’s Australian predecessor, Tottenham scored 10 goals from corners, free-kicks and throw-ins during the 2024/25 season - but conceded 13 from such situations, leaving them firmly in Frank’s “impossible” category with a set-piece goal difference of -3.

In contrast, last season Brentford were among the most prolific sides in the top flight with 13 set-piece goals, while the Bees shipped just two goals from dead-ball situations (excluding penalties), the fewest in the division.

Eighth in the Premier League table ahead of tomorrow’s clash, Brentford have maintained their miserly defensive numbers from set-pieces - again posting league-leading figures - while Tottenham are a team reborn in this respect.

Level with the Bees, with only two goals conceded from set-pieces this term, Tottenham are now also among the most dangerous sides in the Premier League from dead-ball situations. Only four teams - Leeds, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United - have scored more than the north Londoners’ nine goals.

Archie Gray’s matchwinner from a corner against Crystal Palace last Sunday was the latest example of Frank’s set-piece smarts rubbing off on his new club - and Brentford will need to be switched on at all times.

During his time in charge of the Bees, Frank spoke regularly about adding layers to his team’s tactics - and, in this context, he will have been impressed with Brentford’s evolution as a counter-attacking unit under his successor.

Kevin Schade’s second goal against Bournemouth - on his way to claiming the match ball - was the product of a rip-roaring raid forward, and Brentford have now plundered six goals on the break in the Premier League this term.

With Frank already adding layers to his new club, and Andrews doing the same since his graduation to the Bees’ dugout, a fascinating clash awaits, with both managers eager to outwit one another and start the New Year on the front foot.

Scout Report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Frank calls for patience following Spurs’ rollercoaster 2024/25 season

How best to sum up Tottenham Hotspur's 2024/25 season? Strange? Bittersweet? A rollercoaster? One thing is for sure - it was historic, for both positive and negative reasons.

Firstly, it was littered with defeats. There were 26 in all competitions, 22 of which came in the Premier League. The last time they lost that many league games was when they were relegated from the First Division in 1934/35.

It meant they finished just one place above the relegation zone in 17th, which also marked their lowest-ever Premier League finish and lowest in the top flight since 1976/77, when they finished 22nd in the First Division.

The only saving grace was that Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton won only 12 games between them and slipped back into the Championship without much of a fight.

Ange Postecoglou was under pressure for the whole campaign, with a statement he made after the north London derby defeat to Arsenal on 15 September 2024 following him around. “I usually win things in my second season,” he said.

In the league, Spurs faltered, but in the Carabao Cup and Europa League, it was a different story. Those competitions brought a much-needed release. In the former, they reached the semi-finals for the fourth time in seven seasons and in the latter, they beat Manchester United in the final in Bilbao.

Postecoglou no doubt revelled in the ultimate mic-drop, delivering Spurs’ first trophy since 2008. The disastrous league form was forgotten about.

But 16 days after that glorious night in Spain, Postecoglou was sacked. “Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph,” said the club’s statement.

Within a fortnight, the Australian had been replaced by Thomas Frank, who was tempted away from Brentford by a three-year deal in north London. “The time has come for me to move on. But, even as I leave, I know I have left a big piece of my heart at Brentford,” he wrote in a letter to the Bees fans.

It has not been plain sailing for the Dane, though. In his first competitive game, Spurs lost to Paris Saint-German on penalties in the UEFA Super Cup and, despite three wins from his first four in the league, they sit in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

They are out of the Carabao Cup, too, but in the Champions League, their chances of a top-eight finish in the league phase – and thus direct qualification for the round of 16 – are looking reasonably rosy.

External pressure is mounting, and has been for some time. Internally, though, the club seem to still be sure they have the right man at the helm and, as Standard Sport reporter Matt Verri told us this week, Frank has made it clear he cannot turn fortunes around overnight.

The January fixture schedule could certainly have looked more daunting than it does; next up are Sunderland, Bournemouth, West Ham and Burnley. Spurs should, in theory, come through with a healthy points total.

If they do, a push for European qualification will receive a much-needed shot in the arm.

In the Dugout

Thomas Frank

Thomas Frank was coaching youth players in his native Denmark from his early 20s. He spent time at his hometown club Frederiksvaerk, then Hvidovre, but his career might have ended before he took a job at Copenhagen-based B93.

His future would have lay in teaching, when he agreed with his wife to stop coaching due to money concerns. He was also doing his masters in psychology, working as a coach educator, studying for his A-Licence and bringing up two children, as he told The Telegraph in 2020.

Fortunately, he accepted the B93 role, then moved on to Lyngby and , later, the Danish international set-up where, in 2008, he took on the role of managing both Denmark’s Under-16s and U17s. He took the latter - with a squad that included Christian Nørgaard, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Yussuf Poulsen - to the U17 Euros in May 2011, where they reached the semi-finals, and the U17 World Cup the following month.

Frank moved on to the U19s in 2012, then took his first senior job in June 2013 at Brøndby. He took charge of over 100 games before resigning in March 2016. Nine months later, he joined Brentford as an assistant to head coach Dean Smith, before being promoted to head coach in October 2018, when Smith left west London to take over at Aston Villa.

Though he won just one of his first 10 games, over the next seven years, Frank would become one of the club’s most successful managers in history. He took the Bees to the Championship play-off final in his first full season, then delivered promotion to the Premier League in his second. In 2022/23, he guided the club to ninth - their highest top-flight finish since they finished sixth under Harry Curtis in 1937/38.

In June, after over 300 games in charge at Brentford, he signed a three-year deal to replace Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham.

The Gameplan

With Matt Verri, Standard Sport

Matt Verri, sports reporter at Standard Sport, has explained how he expects Thomas Frank to set up his Tottenham side at Gtech Community Stadium.

"More so in recent weeks, Frank has started to settle more on a formation and approach," Verri told us earlier this week.

"This has mainly been 4-2-3-1, with Archie Gray establishing himself in the side as one of those two in front of the defence, which rotates between João Paulinha and Rodrigo Bentancur.

"It had been Xavi Simons as the key creative player, but that is going to have to change now. I would imagine it will still be a similar shape, maybe Lucas Bergvall as the no.10, then Odobert on the left.

"It will be the same sort of approach in terms of a lot of crosses, fairly direct, and a lot of that does still come down the right with Pedro Porro and Kudus."

Last Premier League starting XI v Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Porro, Danso, van de Ven, Spence; Bentancur, Gray; Kudus, Bergvall, Kolo Muani; Richarlison

Team News

Andrews provides Thiago update before Tottenham clash

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews provided an update on top goalscorer Igor Thiago ahead of the Bees’ Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur.

Thiago has scored 11 goals in 18 Premier League appearances this season, and Andrews praised the forward for playing through some pain in recent weeks.

“He had a bit of an issue, but nothing to do with his injury last season at all,” said Andrews.

“This time of year takes its toll, and we need to be careful with some players at times.

“There’s nothing too much to worry about. He’s shown a lot of courage and put the team before himself going into the last couple of games.”

Defender Sepp van den Berg will be assessed having missed Brentford’s 4-1 win over Bournemouth due to a knock.

Josh Dasilva (knee ligament) remains sidelined, while Fábio Carvalho and Antoni Milambo will both miss the rest of the campaign due to ACL injuries.

Frank Onyeka and Dango Ouattara are also unavailable due to their involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria and Burkina Faso, respectively.

Match Officials

Madley to referee second Bees game of campaign

Referee: Andrew Madley

Assistants: Lee Betts and Simon Bennett

Fourth official: Simon Hooper

VAR: Alex Chilowicz

Andrew Madley will referee the New Year's Day meeting with Tottenham Hotspur, exactly 12 years after first taking charge of a Brentford game, when the Bees won 3-1 at Peterborough United in League One.

It will be his second fixture involving the west Londoners this term, having previously officiated the 2-0 win against West Ham United at London Stadium in October.

The Huddersfield-born referee has dished out 34 yellow cards and two reds in the 11 games he has had the whistle for in 2025/26.

Memorable Meeting

Brentford 2 Tottenham Hotspur 2, (Premier League, 13 August 2023)

Brentford and Tottenham played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Gtech Community Stadium in the opening game of the 2023/24 season.

Cristian Romero headed in a James Maddison free-kick to put Spurs in front, before Bryan Mbeumo levelled from the penalty spot.

Rico Henry teed up Yoane Wissa to turn the game on its head, only for Emerson Royal to equalise in first-half stoppage-time.

There was still time for Mbeumo to blaze a huge chance over the top late in a frenetic first half, but neither side could find a winner in west London.