Brentford v Tottenham: 9/5 Spurs can start season with a win

Bees have hard act to follow

Click here for Brentford v Tottenham odds
Saturday 22 August, 17:30
Live on Sky Sports

Despite low expectations following the departure of Thomas Frank - it was common to see them tipped for relegation - Brentford thrived under new but inexperienced boss, Keith Andrews, last term.

They finished ninth and came within a whisker of securing European football. But an obvious phrase comes to mind when assessing their chances this term: follow that!

One big question is whether Igor Thiago can repeat his incredible goalscoring feats of last season. The striker netted 24 times to finish runner-up behind Erling Haaland in the Premier League Golden Boot race and that earned him a World Cup call.

However, after he was quickly ditched from Brazil's starting XI, could that have knocked his confidence? Or is it that he's just the kind of robust, no-frills striker more suited to the Premier League than trying to look silky in the famous yellow shirt.

Will Tottenham thrive after summer shake-up?

A busy transfer window suggests Tottenham must surely improve on last season's big flirt with relegation and there is historical precedence that they can make a huge leap.

Manchester United managed just 42 points two campaigns ago but finished third last season with 71. That's a massive improvement of 29 points. If Spurs could pull off a similar feat, they'd jump from 41 points to 70 and that kind of tally secures Champions League football.

Roberto De Zerbi has already made a strong impression after helping Spurs beat the drop last season and the mood around the club has almost improved by the day.

With no European football to be concerned about, Tottenham can throw everything at the league and they'll hope summer signings Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke, Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and £85m man Savinho can fuel a fast start.

Read Ste Tudor's early look at this weekend's Premier League action

Spurs unbeaten at the Gtech

Tottenham have never lost at Brentford in the Premier League era, four of those five matches ending in draws.

The Draw is [13/5] on Saturday, with Brentford slight favourites at [7/5] and Spurs [9/5].

That win price on Tottenham is enough to tempt me in.

Brentford won just one of their final 10 games last season to suggest that they won't find life as easy this time and I think that line of thinking extends to their star striker Igor Thiago.

Tottenham tend to be decent starters, winning six of their last 10 openers and losing just one, so plenty of paths lead to a Spurs win.

Spurs' strengths point to scoreline punt

Even though De Zerbi carried a reputation as a 'you score two, we'll score three' man, his initial positive impact at Spurs was due to a tightening up the defence.

With reinforcements made there, there's good reason to believe that Tottenham could be hard to break down.

Less certain is just how many goals they'll score. Put Harry Kane back in this team and hopes would be very high for a big season but the current forward line doesn't scream goals. It's no wonder they're trying to increase their attacking options by adding Omar Marmoush to the Savinho deal.

Therefore, as well as backing the basic Spurs win, there's scope to add in Tottenham/Under 2.5 Goals at 6/17.00 which, of course, covers 1-0 and 2-0 away wins.

Spurs spent big money on midfield duo Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes during the transfer window.

Both to have 1 Or More Shots On Target is just shy of 13/27.50. Fernandes tested the goalkeeper in each of his final three games for West Ham last season.

Tottenham have six appeal

Back to the outright Premier League markets and Tottenham look worth a punt at odds-against to finish in the top six.

The market makes them sixth favourites ahead of Aston Villa in seventh.

It's not out of the question that Tottenham could pip any of Man Utd, Liverpool or Chelsea but they don't even have to do that.

Before the woe of back-to-back 17th place finishes, Spurs had made the top six in 13 of the previous 15 seasons so it's fair to say that's where they belong.

Now read Dave's 10-year Premier League trends preview here!