🦁 PL Previews: Brentford to keep buzzing or second season syndrome? | OneFootball

Brentford defied the odds and surprised many last season by achieving survival in their first ever Premier League season.

Backed by a welcome new home crowd, they stayed up with ease in the end, confirming their top flight status with several games to spare. The big question now for Thomas Frank is can he pull it off again?

Click here to see all of our season previews so far.

Transfers 🔁

In: Aaron Hickey (Bologna, £18.6m), Keane Lewis-Potter (Hull, £16m), Ben Mee (Burnley, free), Thomas Strakosha (Lazio, free)

Out: Lachlan Brook (Crewe, loan), Christian Eriksen (Manchester United, free), Jaakko Oksanen (KuPS, free), Dominic Jefferies (Gillingham, undisclosed), Ben Hockenhull (Tranmere, undisclosed), Zanka, Julian Jeanvier (released)

Transfer balance: -£34.6m

Key fixtures 📆

🔑 Key player: Ivan Toney

Was anybody really worried that the man who had finished back-to-back League One and Championship top scorer would struggle to adapt to life in the Premier League?

His 12 goals and five assists were a huge contributor to the Bees securing survival with ease last season but it was his all-round presence rather than his strikes that are so important to how Brentford operate.

Only one man (James Tarkowski) won more aerial duels than his 147 last season, while the only forward to be fouled more than him was Wilfried Zaha. His selfless work is crucial even when he isn’t hitting the net.

But will he be even more of a marked man in his second season?

What has changed since last season? 🤔

The hope that Christian Eriksen would opt for a romantic stay at Brentford after starring on a short-term deal in the second half of the season proved to be futile as the midfield magician opted for a move to Manchester United and his creative talents leave a big void which must be filled.

Not too many more signings are expected to follow Aaron Hickey, the latest in a long line of star Scottish left-backs (although it looks like the two-footed defender will play on the right side for his new employers), exciting midfielder Keane Lewis-Potter and defender Ben Mee.

Frank is also anticipated to field a more adventurous 4-3-3 system this season, particularly at home, and likely to revert to the 3-5-2 of last year in games when they are likely to come under more pressure against the division’s tougher teams.

Off the field, the club have been forced to reintroduce their academy which was shut down in 2016 in favour of a B team, owing to new Premier League regulations which dictate that all clubs must have an operational youth set-up for the start of the 2024/25 campaign.

And the club who have never been shy about doing things differently in the boardroom, particularly when it comes to analytics, are at it again as they hired former England and Fiji rugby sevens coach Ben Ryan to a role as director of elite performance.

Predicted XI 🔮

(4-3-3) — Raya; Hickey, Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock; Jensen, Nørgaard, Dasilva; Mbuemo, Toney, Lewis-Potter

Where will they finish? 🏆

Premier League: 16th FA Cup: Third round Carabao Cup: Fourth round

Click here to see all of our season previews so far.