Correlation FC

Brentford beats QPR 1-0 away

The Bees made the short trip to Loftus Road to take on their London rivals, Queens Park Rangers, in their first match in London during the new the 2025-26 season. The Bees dominated the game from start to finish. Newly minted captain, Nathan Collins, scored the only goal of the game in the 2nd minute. The Bees last won at Loftus Road in October 2019.

Trends that continued

Set piece goal

Collins’s goal came shortly after a Michael Kayode long throw. The Bees scored 6 goals in the Premier League last season from throw-ins.

Undefeated away and in brown

The Bees are undefeated in the preseason, having drawn with Gil Vicente in Portugal previously. They’ve worn their new brown away kit for both matches. Prior to the game in Portugal, the last time the Bees had worn brown was during the 2018-19 season.

What was different

First win for Andrews

The win against QPR was the first for new head coach, Keith Andrews.

More playing time for starters

In Portugal, Andrews played his starters for half the game, with reinforcements coming on after halftime. Against QPR, the starters went for 65 to 75 minutes, giving a better sense of who we may see starting in the Premier League this season.

KLP back on the wing

With the squad being reasonably healthy, Keane Lewis-Potter was re-deployed in his natural position at left wing. While he sporadically played there last season, he was mostly played in a more defensive role at left-back.

Jensen as a 6

Unlike Lewis-Potter, Mathias Jensen was playing more of a defensive midfield role than he did last year. With Christian Norgaard having left for Arsenal and both Jordan Henderson and Vitaly Janelt out, Jensen seemed willing to work hard defensively to earn his minutes. He did have some nice forays forward as well, interchanging nicely with Mikkel Damsgaard. It’ll be interesting to see if Jensen continues to get more minutes playing deep this season – he’s certainly a threat with long passes, so Brentford might find a new way to use his skills while providing cover for other defensive midfielders.

Who was missing

A number of players who participated in the Gil Vicente match were not in the lineup against QPR, including Henderson, Kevin Schade, Sepp van den Berg and Ethan Pinnock. Hakon Valdimarsson was listed as being on the bench, but didn’t take part in the warm-up and wasn’t seen on the pitch at any point. Matthew Cox seemed to be filling in for him. Josh Dasilva and Janelt are still on the road to recovery and weren’t expected to be part of the squad.

Who was back

Bees fans saw some familiar faces back in the lineup, with both Mads Roerslev and Frank Oneyka returning from loans in Germany. Both came on in the second half and were by far the most experienced players among the reinforcements. Time will tell if they remain at Brentford or look for playing time and opportunities elsewhere. Roerslev took the captain's armband from Collins when Collins left the field around the 75th minute.

Aaron Hickey made a strong impression in his second half appearance, filling in for Rico Henry at left-back. Both players missed the majority of the 2024-25 season due to injury. Andrews will be happy to have a selection headache if all of his full-backs stay healthy.

Fabio Carvalho started and looked impressive, with lots of great running at both ends of the pitch. If he’s able to stay healthy, he will surely have plenty of opportunities to shine this season.

Igor Thiago also started and was Caoimhin Kelleher’s frequent target when going long. It’s easy to see how his hold-up game will pair well with Schade’s speed. Two threats in the air will give Kelleher and the team options as well.

London debuts

Kelleher played his first game for Brentford in London. While he only faced two shots on target, he looked confident and aggressive in the box and claimed a dangerous first half cross on one of the few occasions that QPR were threatening. He was accurate with his feet, frequently targeting Thiago with long balls.

Newly signed Antoni Milambo made the most of his approximately 30-minute London debut, with several smart dribbling moves and a scoring opportunity after being put through on goal by a pass from Oneyka.

Finally, Romelle Donovan, promoted from the B team, looked like a natural fit on the right wing. He’s dangerous and direct with the ball, and just seems to have a willingness to find the ball, with great natural instincts. Surely he’ll benefit from his experience with the B team last season and the familiarity he gained with new assistant coach (and former B team head coach) Neil MacFarlane.

What’s next

The Bees play Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday, 8th August, in their final pre-season friendly. We will surely see squad movement soon as well. Andrews had 25 players in his lineup against QPR with a handful of others out with short-term injuries, so decisions will need to be made about who stays, who returns to the B team, who goes out on loan, and who, if anybody, is sold. Oh, and we’ll also see if Yoane Wissa remains at Brentford or moves on as has been rumoured.

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