Correlation FC

Brentford draw final pre-season friendly 2-2

2 goals in 2 minutes by Fabio Carvalho and Mikkel Damsgaard weren’t enough for the Bees as they finished the game even with Borussia Mönchengladbach (BMG). The Bees were strong at times in the first half an dominated much of the second half.

What was new

100th anniversary stripes

This was the first time the Bees wore their new 100th anniversary red and white striped kit. The team also announced their third kit on the same day, going with a predominantly blue colour.

Home debuts

Jordan Henderson and Antoni Milambo both came off the bench to play for Brentford for the first time at the Gtech. The crowd seemed happy to see them, and both performed well in their brief appearances.

Valdimarsson in net

Hakon Valdimarsson started for the Bees. It was his first start at the Gtech since September 2024 against Leyton Orient. He couldn’t be faulted for either goal and his medium and long range distribution was excellent.

What wasn't new

Players out due to injuries

A number of players were unavailable due to injury including Kevin Schade, Vitaly Janelt, Paris Maghoma and Caoimhin Kelleher. Janelt is still recovering from surgery – the other injuries are seemingly minor ones picked up during the pre-season.

Another set piece goal

The Bees scored a nice set piece goal, with a Mathias Jensen free kick finding Nathan Collins who headed it onto Carvalho, who made a difficult shot in traffic look easy as he found the net despite being surrounded by BMG players. Collins now has a goal and an assist in his last 2 starts.

Fabio Carvalho's goal in traffic (source Correlation FC)

The Bees were very dangerous on long throws as well, creating several good scoring chances. BMG keeper Moritz Nicolas made a few remarkable saves to keep the ball out of the net on what looked like sure goals.

High press working well

Keith Andrews has talked about the importance of playing with high intensity and playing with an edge. Brentford pressed well throughout the game and their second goal came when Damsgaard intercepted a pass from the BMG goalkeeper who tried to go up the middle. Damsgaard calmly finished through the keeper's legs from outside the box.

Similar starting lineup

Andrews went with a similar starting lineup to last weekend against QPR, with only 2 changes with Valdimarsson in for the injured Kelleher and Sepp van den Berg back from injury re-claiming his starting position from Kristoffer Ajer. Barring significant injuries this week, it's safe to guess that his first Premier League starting lineup will look pretty similar too.

No Wissa :(

Yoane Wissa has apparently returned to training, but he didn't play and wasn't seen near the players bench. His future with Brentford is still unclear. Hopefully we'll see him smiling on the pitch again soon.

Other notes

The teams played again behind closed doors on the next day with subs and others who didn’t play getting a chance to compete. BMG took the win 2-1 with Romelle Donovan scoring for the Bees. First team players Mads Roerslev, Ajer, Ethan Pinnock, Aaron Hickey and Frank Onyeka started alongside newcomers Henderson, Donovan, and Milambo.

What's next

The Bees first Premier League game of the 2025-26 season is quickly approaching. Next stop is the City Ground at Nottingham Forest.

The Bees still have too many players in the squad, so we’ll surely see some departures before the season starts and more by the end of the transfer window at the end of the month.

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