Brentford vs Tottenham preview, team news, how to watch and prediction

Tottenham Hotspur are set to kickstart their 2023/24 Premier League campaign on Sunday afternoon when they travel to the Gtech Community Stadium to face off against Brentford.

After enduring a dire campaign last term, Spurs have decided to rebuild under the new boss Ange Postecoglou’s guidance. They finished eighth in the league and as a consequence of that, they have failed to qualify for Europe this season.

The North London club have been busy in this transfer window and have already signed several players to bolster their squad ahead of next season.

Transfer businesses

After Hugo Lloris’ disappointing form in recent times, Spurs have decided to make a move for a new goalkeeper as a long-term successor for the Frenchman.

Tottenham initially tried to purchase David Raya from Brentford and Postecoglou’s side even agreed on personal terms with the Spaniard. But the Bees wanted £40m for him and Spurs considered the valuation was too high so they opted to pull the plug on that deal and in the end decided to sign Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli.

The Lilywhites struggled with their leaky defence last term, conceding 63 goals – which was the worst defensive display among the teams who finished in the top half of the table. So, Tottenham have prioritised strengthening their backline in this transfer window.

Postecoglou has already signed centre-back Micky van de Ven from VfL Wolfsburg and it has been suggested that the Australian boss wants to purchase at least another defender before the end of this window with Edmond Tapsoba being mentioned as his primary target.

On the other hand, Destiny Udogie has finally arrived at the club. The Lilywhites purchased the left-back in a £15m deal last summer but the 20-year-old remained at Udinese on a season-long loan last term before moving to the newly renovated White Hart Lane this summer.

Tottenham didn’t have any option in their attacking midfield department. So they have opted to spend big and sign James Maddison for a fee of around £40m. The midfielder has looked good during the pre-season games and the North Londoners will be hoping that he will be able to continue his form throughout the next season.

Spurs have signed Manor Solomon on a free transfer to support Heung-min Son, while they have decided to make Dejan Kulusevski’s loan move permanent after being impressed by his performances last season.

After a long saga, Spurs have finally decided to sell Harry Kane to Bayern Munich this summer for a fee of around £110m, including bonuses so they will be without the 30-year-old this season.

Richarlison is expected to be the first-choice striker for Postecoglou for the time being and things may change over the coming days if they sign a new striker as Kane’s replacement.

After moving to the newly renovated White Hart Lane in a £60m deal last summer, the Brazilian struggled to showcase his best, scoring a solitary goal and registering three assists in 27 league appearances last term. However, the North Londoners will be hoping that he will be able to flourish this season and fill the void of Kane.

Meanwhile, Tottenham have signed Argentinian striker Alejo Veliz from Rosario Central. But, he is only 19 so he needs time to settle down in the Premier League and flourish in his career. Therefore, he is likely to be the understudy to Richarlison for this season.

Team news

All of the new signings are fit enough to feature in this weekend’s opening fixtures. But, it is likely that Postecoglou may opt to keep Van de Ven away from his starting eleven as the Dutchman hasn’t had many training sessions with the first team having recently joined the club.

Several players will be out of action for Tottenham against Brentford and one of them is Rodrigo Bentancur. He didn’t feature in Spurs’ any of the pre-season games due to a serious knee issue that he picked up back in February and he will remain sidelined until next month at least.

On the other hand, Ryan Sessegnon picked up a hamstring issue during the early stages of the pre-season and it is unknown how long he will remain sidelined. So, the 23-year-old is not in contention to feature this weekend.

Bryan Gil and Fraser Forster are all struggling with groin and back issues respectively, while Tanguy Ndombele is set to remain sidelined due to fitness problems.

As for Brentford, they will be without their talisman Ivan Toney – who has been suspended for eight months due to the breaching of betting rules and the striker’s suspension will run until next year.

Christian Norgaard and Mathias Jensen aren’t available for selection as well owing to suspension issues, while Thomas Frank’s side will be without David Raya – who has agreed to join Arsenal on a season-long loan.

How to watch

As this is the first game of the new season and fans are eagerly awaiting the return of Premier League football, the match is expected to be a sell-out. You may still be able to buy Spurs tickets on a reselling site such as Seatsnet but the official allocation from the club website sold out weeks ago.

The match will begin at 2 pm this Sunday and it will be telecasted live in the UK on Sky Sports main event and Sky Sports Premier League. Radio commentary can be followed on BBC Radio Five Live.

Previous meetings

Tottenham haven’t had great success against the Bees in recent times as they failed to defeat Thomas Frank’s side in the last three games in the Premier League. In addition, Spurs haven’t managed to beat Brentford away from home since they returned to the top-flight a couple of years ago.

So, Tottenham will be hoping to break their duck at the Gtech Community Stadium and win in Postecoglou’s competitive debut game as the Lilywhites’ manager this weekend.

Prediction

Brentford haven’t had a great pre-season as they failed to win any of their games over the summer. So, they are coming into this game with very poor form. Frank’s side are likely to struggle without Toney for the first part of this season and it remains to be seen whether Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo can fill the Englishman’s void.

Tottenham will be looking to take advantage of that situation. However, although they have looked good going forward during the pre-season games, they seemed pretty fragile defensively, conceding nine goals in four matches.

So, Tottenham will be concerned about their defensive issues and it is expected that this game will be a high-scoring encounter.

Without Kane, Tottenham will be relatively weaker but they have enough firepower to beat Brentford. Extra onus now will be on Son amid Kane’s absence and the Spurs fans will be hoping that he will be able to return to his best this season. So, it is going to be interesting to see how Tottenham perform in Postecoglou’s competitive debut match as the Lilywhites boss this weekend. Brentford 2-3 Tottenham