Confidence remains high at Brentford despite a number of regular faces not being at the club for the opening weekend, for one reason or another.
Thomas Frank is once again tasked with upsetting the Premier League applecart amid Ivan Toney’s ban and the exit of David Raya, however the west Londoners look as prepared as ever.
Here, Standard Sport reporter Dom Smith previews the Bees’ 2023-24 campaign...
What has changed in 11 weeks?
David Raya is on his way to Arsenal, with new signing Mark Flekken now the No1 goalkeeper, but besides that Brentford will have a familiar look. Pontus Jansson has left, but head coach Thomas Frank remains committed, while Ivan Toney is still banned until January.
Transfer business
The £11m they paid for Flekken looks good value and his arrival in May meant the Bees had a Raya replacement at the start of the summer. Centre-back Nathan Collins has arrived in a club-record £23m deal from Wolves, while German speedster Kevin Schade has made his loan move permanent.
Tactic to look for
Their plan for coping without Toney. Yoane Wissa is set to lead the line, but Bryan Mbeumo will be asked to drive the attack from the right of the front three. The club’s No9 Schade failed to score in 19 games last season but there are high hopes for him.
Success would be… European qualification. Brentford may find goals harder to come by without Toney, and Raya will be a big loss, but at the least they will want to improve on last season’s ninth-place finish, so why not aim to replicate what Brighton did?
