Should be beating the likes of Brentford… | OneFootball

I have no doubt that plenty of other Newcastle United fans will be saying that our team ‘Should be beating the likes of Brentford..’

After all, this was the case for many of our supporters last season, when they found it inexplicable as to how ‘the likes of…’ teams such as Brentford, Bournemouth and Fulham, weren’t automatically defeated.

This is a denial of modern day reality.

The way things are set up with the Premier League now, it gives ‘small’ clubs a great chance of being competitive if they can survive after promotion and establish a foothold.

The minimal matchday revenue the likes of Bournemouth and Brentford generate, is a drop in the ocean compared to the financial benefits they derive from having access to Premier League riches, as well as wealthy owners with a plan. Clever recruitment and selling players for vast profits, the allows themselves to be big spenders as well. All Premier League clubs have more spending power than all but a relative handful of clubs in the major leagues in Europe. Transfer fees and wages, ‘the likes of…’ Brentford and Bournemouth can pay more than all but those relative few outside the English Premier League.

Specifically looking at Brentford, they are formidable on the pitch as well at the GTech Community Stadium, picking up 10 points from five matches at home this season, compared to only three points away. The Bees not only winning and scoring three goals against both Liverpool and Man U but Brentford also outplaying them as well. It was the same at home for them against Villa in both Premier League and League Cup this season, Brentford the better team and defeating Unai Emery’s team twice.

Newcastle United won 4-2 away at Brentford on 19 May 2024, the final day of the season. Brentford wouldn’t lose at home again for over seven months until 21 December 2024.

The home game directly before an eventual Premier League home loss (to Forest), was a 4-2 Brentford win over…Newcastle United. A strange game where Newcastle were much the better team first half and scored twice, only for Brentford to score two brilliant goals on the break through Mbeumo and Wissa. The second half though saw Newcastle just fade to nothing in terms of threat, whilst conceding a really badly defended goal from a long free-kick that nobody dealt with. A 90th minute fourth goal then adding to the misery.

That defeat proved a real turning point in Newcastle’s season, Eddie Howe’s side winning all of their next nine games in a remarkable run in all competitions, home and away. Whilst that extended to a run of 12 wins in 14 games, which included beating Brentford at home in the quarter-finals of the League Cup AND defeating Arsenal home AND away in the semi-finals of the same competition to get to Wembley.

Last season, Newcastle faced a Brentford team that hadn’t lost at home in over seven months. This time we are up against a Brentford side that have lost only once at home (in any competition) since May 2025, almost six months. That one defeat saw Man City score through Haaland after nine minutes and just shut up shop, barely threatening again and Brentford unable to break down their defensive line.

This is a really tough match and anybody who goes down the line of saying Newcastle United, or indeed any other club, ‘should be beating the likes of Brentford’, is simply talking nonsense. At the GTech Community Stadium anyway.

The simple truth is that there are very long spells, months and months and months, where nobody wins away at Brentford.

On a more positive note, before that 4-2 defeat to Brentford last season, Newcastle had won all of their league matches away to Brentford since 1948. Admittedly we hadn’t played them on a regular basis but five away league wins in a row against any opposition is pretty good going.

Whilst of course it has been frustrating that Newcastle United haven’t been picking up away wins in the Premier League this season, but at the same time, so many United fans going way over the top with their overall negativity.

The fact is that if Eddie Howe and his players can find a way to win on Sunday, they will be on a run of seven wins in their last nine games, in all competitions home and away.

Newcastle United have been far from perfect, BUT this season so far overall, has been far from the disaster a vocal minority want to make it out to be. So often small margins are in play and for example hitting the woodwork or the back of the net have been minute margins, those margins maybe falling our way far more in the other competitions but going against NUFC in the Premier League.

If it is an away win on Sunday, then Eddie Howe will have led his Newcastle United team to eight wins in their last nine matches against Brentford, home and away.

So if anybody then says Newcastle United ‘should be beating the likes of Brentford’ then we can shout out that we usually do and have just done so yet again!

If though Newcastle United don’t win on Sunday, then we will be in good company. It won’t be an inexplicable draw or defeat, it will have been a failure to win away against a very decent established Premier League club, that have a team who are especially competitive and formidable when playing at home.