The Brentford Community Stadium is the venue for The Bees’ opening game of the 2023/24 Premier League season against fellow London team Tottenham. The two teams were separated by just a point last season, and will both be looking further up the table, with Spurs desperate for a return to European football.
Brentford’s second season in the Premier League was a much more successful endeavour than their first in 2021. The Bees finished ninth in the 2022/23 season, their best ever finish in the Premier League with 15 wins, 14 draws and nine losses, leaving them on 59 points. Brentford’s biggest ever points haul in the top flight left The Bees just two points adrift of European football, a positive base for Brentford to build upon this season.
One of the ways in which Brentford has strengthened for their third season in the Premier League is through their dealings in the summer transfer window. The Bees acquired Wolves’ Nathan Collins for €26 million and Kevin Schade for €25 million and goalkeeper Mark Flekken for €13 million both from Freiburg.
The Bees have also been busy during preseason, participating in a number of games as well as the Premier League Summer Series. Outside of the Summer Series, Brentford only managed a 0 - 0 draw with Lille and a 1 - 1 draw with Boreham Wood. However, The Bees didn’t fare too much better in the Summer Series, losing their opening game to Fulham 3 - 2, following up with a 2 - 0 loss to Brighton and grabbing a 3 - 3 draw with Aston Villa in the final game.
Tottenham had a season to forget for the 2022/23 season. For the first time since the 2020/21 season, Spurs finished outside the European football spots, finishing in a disappointing eighth. Under the management of three different managers: Antonio Conte, Ryan Mason and Cristian Stellini, Tottenham could only scrape together 18 wins, six draws and 14 losses.
However, Tottenham come into the new season under new management, former Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou and with a number of new signings. The most notable signings of Tottenham’s summer are James Maddison from Leicester for €46 million and the full signings of loan players Pedro Porro from Sporting and Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus, for €40 million and €30 million respectively.
Spurs have only played three games for their preseason programme after their game against Leicester was cancelled. In their one game against Premier League opposition, Tottenham fell to a late 3 - 2 win for West Ham, but their other two games both ended in a 5 - 1 win against Lion City Sailors and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Brentford and Tottenham have met on 46 occasions, dating all the way back to 1902. However, Spurs have a massive advantage in the head-to-head, winning 24 of the 46 meetings, with Brentford winning just seven times. Though, The Bees did win the last outing between the two, with a 3 - 1 win in May.