Rasant start in the London derby?

Tottenham take on Brentford in a London derby. The home side will be rested as their match at Burnley on Sunday was cancelled due to heavy snow. Still, Spurs will be a little queasy about the timing of the encounter: The hosts have lost three of their last five games on a Thursday (1-1-3).

On the other hand, this Thursday curse has only come about since the football lockdown in March 2020. Prior to that, Spurs had never recorded a defeat on this day of the week in the Premier League (7-5-0). The visitors, for their part, arrive in a slightly improved form again. After four defeats in a row, they recently drew against Newcastle and beat Everton

Admittedly, there are also more difficult tasks than the bottom of the table and the recently completely unsettled Toffees. For the clash between Tottenham and Brentford, the tip aims for more than one goal by half-time.

Tottenham – Statistics & current form

The Londoners have had a new coach on the sidelines for two rounds of matches in Antonio Conte. The Italian made his debut with a somewhat disappointing draw at Everton, who, as described, were completely off the pace, but then celebrated his first win at home against Leeds United.

In contrast, however, their first competitive match in the Conference League was a sensational 2-1 loss to NS Mura last Thursday. The defeat against the underdog made it clear that Tottenham are still in a shaky position due to their poor performance so far this season. What’s more, Spurs must now once again tremble for survival in this competition.

Conte must improve the attack

The Italian coach’s biggest area of improvement is undoubtedly the attack. Only second-bottom Norwich score fewer goals than the Lilywhites in the Premier League! In contrast, Tottenham can rely on their home strength.

Although they have already lost two of their six home games against Chelsea and Manchester United, they have won all their other home games and also their three home games on the European stage this season.

Again, Conte’s mediocre record in London derbies argues against a home win. During his time as Chelsea coach between 2016 and 2018, he played 16 such games and only 44 per cent ended in victory (7-3-6). By comparison, his win percentage against teams outside London is instead a handsome 73 per cent (45-8-9).

On the offensive side, Tottenham will also be hoping that Harry Kane can hit the ground running against Brentford. The in-form attacker has scored against all 30 Premier League opponents in his career! A 100 per cent haul that no other player has with at least two opponents in Britain’s top flight.

Kane likes to run on a Thursday

On top, Kane for his part has no problem with playing on a Thursday. Eight times he has been on the pitch in the Premier League on this day of the week and the striker has scored just as many goals in these games!

Every 84 minutes he has scored a goal: on Tuesdays alone he does even better – with an average time span of 81 minutes for a goal.

Predicted line-up of Tottenham:
Lloris – Davies – Dier – Tanganga – Emerson Royal – Hojberg – Winks – Reguilon – Son – Lucas Moura – Kane

Last matches played by Tottenham:

European Conference League Grp. G
11/25 2021 – Mura 2 – 1 Tottenham

Premier League
11/21 2021 – Tottenham 2 – 1 Leeds

11/07 2021 – Everton 0 – 0 Tottenham

European Conference League Grp. G
11/04 2021 – Tottenham 3 – 2 Vitesse Arnhem

Premier League
10/30 2021 – Tottenham 0 – 3 Manchester United

Brentford – Statistics & current form

As mentioned at the beginning, the Bees have stopped the fall in the table for now. Now, moreover, they will be quite happy to have an away game on the schedule. Nine of the 16 points of the season have been taken away from home, even though they have played one home game more. The only defeat so far was at Burnley.

Recently, however, the defence has deteriorated in the away games: Seven of the nine goals conceded on foreign soil were conceded in the last three matches. Against this backdrop, the odds on both sides scoring in the clash between Tottenham and Brentford also make sense.

The additional prediction is underpinned by a stable attack from the visitors: they were denied a goal in their first guest appearance of the season at Crystal Palace alone, which is why goals have consistently resulted on both sides in five of the Londoners’ subsequent six away league and EFL Cup fixtures since then.

Toney gets going

In attack, once again, hopes lie with Ivan Toney. The striker scored in the last two league games against Newcastle and Everton. With four goals he is the best goal scorer on the side of the visitors.

Toney performed this role last season when he scored no fewer than 33 goals in the Championship (including the promotion relegation) and took the top scorer’s crown. With that in mind, the odds on his next goal celebrations are worth considering for Tottenham’s clash against Brentford.

Predicted Brentford line-up:
Fernandez – Goode – Jansson – Pinnock – Janelt – Onyeka – Canos – Norgaard – Henry – Toney – Mbeumo

Last matches played by Brentford:

Premier League
11/28 2021 – Brentford 1 – 0 Everton

11/20 2021 – Newcastle United 3 – 3 Brentford

11/06 2021 – Brentford 1 – 2 Norwich

10/30 2021 – Burnley 3 – 1 Brentford

Carabao Cup
10/27 2021 – Stoke 1 – 2 Brentford

Tottenham – Brentford Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

Tottenham have not lost any of their last eleven duels with the Bees (8-3-0). The most recent encounter dates back to last season in the EFL Cup, when Spurs won 2-0 in the semi-finals of the competition. The teams have also never faced each other in the country’s top division.

Brentford’s last win in the competition came no less than 73 years ago! For the upcoming match between Tottenham and Brentford, the odds are leaning towards a continuation of the series in favour of the hosts.

Tottenham – Brentford Tip

Tottenham have been on the losing end of London derbies recently: The past five have all been lost. Now this negative series against the newcomer should come to an end. For the duel between Tottenham and Brentford, the tip is more than one goal within the first half of the match.

The Bees have stabilised recently and are more stable away from home than at home. As a rule, things already get going in the first 45 minutes of the game. So far, the visitors have conceded only 35 percent of their goals in the second half of the game – the lowest figure in a league-wide comparison.

At the same time, the visitors’ attack is often already at operating temperature in the first half, as more than half of their 17 goals this season have come from the break. For this reason, predicting more than one goal by the half-time whistle would have been crowned with success in two-thirds of the six guest matches in league play so far.

Betway are offering betting odds of 2.80 on the Tottenham vs Brentford clash.