Bees beat Spurs 3-0

The Bees kicked off the new season with a dominant first half. An early second-half goal put the game out of reach. Brentford kept a clean sheet, finishing the game up 3-0.

What was new

Debuts at TW8

Record signing Mamadou Sangaré announced his arrival at the Gtech Community Stadium with a Man of the Match performance. Other new arrivals, Jaidon Anthony and Callum Wilson made their competitive debuts for the Bees as well, coming off the bench in the second half.

False left back

Keane Lewis-Potter started the game and scored the opening goal. He was officially playing at left back, but he was making an impact all over the pitch, including far up the right side as well as in the box. In a post-game interview, coach Keith Andrews mentioned that somebody had recently referred to KPL as a "false left back", suggesting that he's not always sticking to the old-school script about what a left back should be doing. Whether he continues the season at left-back or further up the pitch remains to be seen, but his goal contributions will definitely be welcomed from wherever he's playing.

Thiago missed a penalty

For only the second time in his Brentford career, striker Igor Thiago missed a penalty. He had the goalkeeper clearly beaten, but unfortunately hit the wrong part of the inside of the goalpost and the ball bounced out.

What was familiar

More Kayode

Michael Kayode made his 50th Premier League appearance for the Bees. He's been a regular starter and fan favourite since his arrival in January 2025.

Other data stories

Keeping things unpredictable

In his pre-match press conference, while responding to media questions, Andrews three times said that he wanted the team to be unpredictable this season. We've already mentioned Lewis-Potter, and his ability to make an impact from a variety of positions on the field as one part of that unpredictability.

Another way that was on display against Spurs was through his midfield trio of Sangaré, Vitaly Janelt and Mathias Jensen. The three seemed to switch and rotate with ease, providing cover for one another, taking turns pressing high up the pitch.

Looking at their individual touch maps, it's clear that Jensen was often further up the pitch than the other two, but there is no clear channel or lane laterally that any of the three stuck to.

Brentford's midfield dominates Spurs (source: Opta)

If we combine the three heatmaps onto a single graphic, you can see that the trio had almost the entire pitch completely covered, including good support in the defensive box on Tottenham corners.

Combined view of Brentford's midfield touchmaps (source: Opta)

Brentford goal contributions