Brentford face their biggest test of the season when they play Newcastle on Saturday.
The Bees have made a solid start in the Championship where they currently sit in seventh position. They take on Newcastle at St James’ Park on Saturday and although it is early, a victory can prove to be a defining moment to their season but it will be a big challenge. After a sluggish start in their return to the Championship, The Magpies have clearly hit their stride and are sitting on top of the form ladder over the last eight games collecting 19 points in that period and are currently sitting in third place on 22 points.
While the home record of Brentford is superb (14 from 18 points) there are a few things are holding them back from climbing the table and which they can fix starting on Saturday.
Consistency
Brentford’s Scott Hogan celebrates scoring their second goal
They have failed to secure back to back victories since the middle of August where they claimed home wins against Ipswich (2-0) and Nottingham Forest(1-0). Brentford had the ideal opportunity to break that trend against Wigan but produced a lethargic effort to play out a scoreless draw. The Championship is a marathon not a sprint and The Bees have the ideal opportunity to correct their consistency before it drags on to become a major issue later on the season.
Away Form
Brentford manager Dean Smith
Brentford have claimed just one win away from home this season which was a 2-0 victory against Brighton. Although they have had bigger wins this season, the quality of their opponent makes it their best performance so far. Either side of that game they have produced some poor efforts, most noticeably their 1-0 loss to Rotherham which remains The Millers’ only victory of the season. They claimed nine away wins last season which was a solid effort and on this occasion it was their poor home form that cost them a playoff berth. Ideally manager Dean Smith would like to see a balance between both.
Scoring goals away from home
Brentford manager Dean Smith
A carry over from their poor away form is their lack of goals on the road. No team has a greater differential between their home and away goal tallies than Brentford this season. At home they have scored 13 which is equal best in the league with Nottingham Forest, however they have only scored five goals on their travels. This is clearly a area which needs to be corrected if they are to reach their overall target for this season.
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