Brentford

As we enter the first international break, we want to hear your thoughts on the opening five games of the Premier League season.

Brentford have had another strong start to the league campaign in Keith Andrews' second season in charge.

The Bees boss has guided his side to two wins and three draws, which sees the team head into the international break unbeaten in the top flight.

Brentford have also brought their form to the Carabao Cup after they successfully dispatched Birmingham City and Reading in the first two rounds.

How do you rate the Bees' start to the season and why? And what should Andrews be focusing on during the extended break?

Get in touch with your views here

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

The fact that Arsenal are not invincible has clearly come as a bit of a surprise to some people.

They were thumped by Brighton at the weekend, while Brentford hammered Chelsea to go fourth and Bournemouth narrowly lost to Liverpool.

The three little Bs, who I wrote about more than once last season, are at it again, fearlessly going for blood against the big dogs.

Both Brighton and Brentford will sit in the top four for the three weeks of the international break, with Bournemouth finding their feet under a new manager.

Their success should now not be surprising. In the last four seasons Brighton have averaged an eighth-place league finish - astonishing for a smaller provincial club outwith the major cities.

Arsenal's three-goal capitulation was initially a shock, but should it still be a surprise down at Brighton?

This season, the Seagulls have also scored three against Chelsea and Manchester United, four against Tromso and Aston Villa while slapping Coventry with five.

This does not look like a lucky run of form or a purple patch on the pitch; this looks like who they are now.

Bournemouth were sixth last season and I think Brighton could do even better than that this time round.

The likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Villa are each capable of getting their acts together after early stumbles, but the chance of reaching the Champions League has never seemed so achievable for the more pocket-sized Premier League clubs.

During the second half of the recent Carabao Cup demolition of Manchester United at Old Trafford, I started to think "this team is very special".

The Reds had a few youngsters playing that night, but after going 2-0 down Fabian Hurzeler's men played some of the cleverest, quickest, most intricate passing football I have seen in years.

The incredible pace with which they pressed the opposition only added to the heady, unstoppable mix.

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BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton says "it will be really interesting to see how far" Brighton and Brentford can challenge for a top-six finish in the Premier League.

Brighton and Brentford sit third and fourth in the Premier League table respectively following strong starts to the 2026-27 season.

"If you look at the start Brighton have had, the depth they have and the way they play then it will be really interesting to see how far they go," said Sutton on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

"I am slightly reluctant about Brentford because I don't think they've done as much business as Brighton and had a big influx of players.

"That means they have to be on the right side of injuries like they were last season. That's a big deal because you need the strength and depth to really go deep and long into a season."

The Observer's Rory Smith added: "Brighton have said that because they are in Europe they set out to have a deeper squad than normal this season. Brentford just missed out on Europe so that might be the explanation for why one is busier [in the market] than the other.

"I think their models are different. Brentford aren't really about signing players to sell them on as much as Brighton are.

"Bryan Mbeumo was a big one, but it's not their priority.

"I'm sure Mamadou Sangare will go for a huge sum of money in the next year or two, and Igor Thiago if he can keep his scoring ratio up, but the market they shop in shows their priority isn't reselling like Brighton."

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Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

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Most squads in the Premier League these days are packed with international players, and Brentford are no different.

Most of the Bees' squad are away, but Callum Wilson and Igor Thiago are among about 12 players left at their training facility, including five who are coming back from injury.

Brentford have a longer break than almost every other team, given they hosted Chelsea on Friday.

Boss Keith Andrews has given his first-team players a week off with individual training programmes to follow. Those players will not have restrictions on leaving the country, but it is unlikely long-haul flights would be sanctioned.

The squad will reconvene on Saturday, 26 September to begin training again, before playing a behind-closed-doors game against another English club on the weekend of 3 October.

That friendly could potentially give the likes of Nathan Collins and Sepp van den Berg a chance to return to action, with the rest of the squad made up of under-21 players.

The second international break will look very different, with the Bees playing Brighton on Sunday, 8 November and back in action against Everton on Saturday, 21 November.

Players may be given the odd day off, but in general it will be a normal training programme with no friendly before the usual preparation for the fixture against the Toffees.

Read the full piece here

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Portsmouth defender Benjamin Arthur is set to be out for 12 weeks with a stress fracture in his back.

Arthur signed for Pompey on a season-long loan from Brentford in August and has played six games for the club this season.

But the 20-year-old was absent from the matchday line-up for their 2-2 draw with Blackburn.

"Benji's picked up a stress fracture in his back unfortunately; a massive blow to Benji, a massive blow to us as well," manager John Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.

"That's going to be one that keeps him out for quite a few weeks - we're probably looking at at least 12."

We asked for your thoughts after Friday's Premier League game between Brentford and Chelsea.

Here are some of your comments:

Brentford fans

Campbell: Fantastic win; Damsgaard outstanding, Keane Lewis-Potter was also very good. Took on and beat Chelsea in midfield and never reverted to a low block; a clear sign of the development of the team under Andrews.

Vivek: Brilliant game from the Bees. I think that we had conviction and shut down Chelsea really well and when we did, we found gaps and space for counters which is a strong point for us. Brilliant game and evening if you're a Brentford fan and I hope we see more.

Conor: Wow, wow, wow, just wow!! What a beautiful game of football. Schade on form is massive to see, Thiago's first league goal, incredible and Carvalho. Who says Brentford are the only team yet to get to Europe? The season is only getting started. My blood pressure has shot through the roof.

Sampson: Absolutely incredible performance last night. A deserved win, with most players having a great game, especially Damsgaard, Schade and Schuster. Bring on Villa!

Chelsea fans

Richard: All I have heard of the last three years is about the process, fed up with it tbh. When is this going to be sorted? We need to be braver going forward, and not be bullied like we were in the second half. I couldn't believe that second-half performance, so many players weren't at it. We had a decent first half to be fair. It needs to be sorted, and that's down to the management to get it right - no more excuses.

Alan: This was just about the worst match I've seen this season. The defence was a total unorganised mess with no leader. Lacroix was hopeless and Colwill ran circles round himself. As for Martinez, you can see why he was cheap to buy. Henderson played well for his first game back after injury, but where was James? It was a poor night for Palmer. He will need to be better than this to keep his England place. If we are going to win anything, a major sort out at the back is needed.

David: Chelsea were shown on the night the difference between a team of players that play with heart and a desire to win and a team of so-called skilful individuals who were second best and bullied off every ball. We are easy to beat.

Ash: So poor and zero cutting edge. The fact we are playing old men showed and these should be subs, not starters. Alonso needs to get a grip on the defence as they are easily the worst in the Premier League. The break actually helps somewhat as something needs to change and they can work on it.

Brentford starting XI:

Caoimhin Kelleher: An accomplished display, although he was never required to make any outstanding saves. 6

Michael Kayode: Played a couple of sloppy passes and rarely ventured forward. 6

Kristoffer Ajer: A sizeable presence at the back despite coming under significant pressure from crosses in open play and from set-pieces. 7

Jannik Schuster: The young defender excelled in his own box but looked nervous in possession on a few occasions, including an overhit backpass that could have led to an own goal. He then set up the winner. 7

Keane Lewis-Potter: A poor clearance led to a Neto chance in the 10th minute, but he was impressive on the counter-attack. That perhaps owed something to his experience of learning the left-back role after previously playing as an attacker. 6

Yehor Yarmoliuk: On his 100th appearance, he threatened with a powerful long-range effort in the 37th minute and created Brentford's best chance shortly after half-time. 7

Vitaly Janelt: Did just enough to halt a Cole Palmer dribble early on, although he risked conceding a penalty. He provided a physical presence in midfield, with a potential Germany debut on the horizon under new manager Jurgen Klopp. 7

Mikkel Damsgaard: The Dane was not at his usual level from set-pieces or with his shooting from distance until he delivered an incredible whipped corner that led to the opening goal. 6