Analysis: Mbeumo and Wissa a 'superb example' of Premier League partnership | OneFootball

Brentford recorded their first away win of the 2024/25 Premier League season against Southampton on Saturday, with the dynamic duo of Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa once again at the forefront of the 5-0 victory.

The pair linked up perfectly for the Bees' second of the game when Wissa set up his team-mate for a powerful finish. Mbeumo then scored from the spot before assisting Keane Lewis-Potter in the 92nd minute, with Wissa adding extra gloss to the scoreline with a much-deserved goal even later into stoppage time.

Should Mbeumo be the next to score for Brentford then there would be a unique situation in which three players are all tied as the club's Premier League top scorer: Wissa and Ivan Toney are currently both in first position with 36, while Mbeumo is just behind on 35.

Mbeumo's tally of 13 this campaign now means that only Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah are ahead of him in the goalscoring charts, which reflects just how scintillating the forward's form is.

Wissa's not too far behind his friend though, having hit double figures. The Bees now have two players on double figures for the season, something no other team has achieved yet in the league so far this season.

Indeed, the duo are beaten by just one other in terms of goals scored as a tag team. Mbeumo and Wissa's total tally of 23 is bested only by Salah and Luis Díaz (26). Those 23 goals account for 61 per cent of Brentford's Premier League output this year (38).

The goals scored at St Mary's Stadium also meant that the pair have now already outscored their total figures for the 2023/24 season. That year, Mbeumo and Wissa bagged a combined 21 (Mbeumo nine; Wissa 12) - now they're on 23 together and it's only January!

Of course, Mbeumo and Wissa couldn't do it without a strong supporting cast.

So while Mbeumo's positive Expected Goal Difference of +6.39xG puts the Cameroon international top of the league in terms of overperforming (or finishing brilliantly, if you want to put it another way), his average of 0.19xG shot is ahead of all but one other player in the top ten xG overperformers (Chris Wood is that outlier with an average 0.22xG per shot). That indicates that he is getting the ball from his colleagues in the right place at the right time to create a goalscoring chance.

That stat is backed up by Wissa. The 28-year-old is top of the league in terms of xG per shot (for players who have had more than three shots) with 0.25xG per shot on average. Wissa does trail his partner in terms of overperforming xG - just +0.68 - a figure that wasn't helped by a big miss against the Saints that he atoned for almost immediately by setting up his pal Mbeumo!

Shearer and Sutton, Yorke and Cole, Henry and Bergkamp - a proper strike partnership is a special thing in football that we don't see too much of anymore, but Mbeumo and Wissa are a superb modern example.