Brentford’s resurgence puts Spurs to the test in London derby

Brentford hosts London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the Gtech Community Stadium on New Year’s Day.

The Bees enjoyed a comfortable 4-1 win over Bournemouth last time out and will hope to continue their recent unbeaten run at home.

Tottenham secured a narrow 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace at the weekend, and Thomas Frank will be keen to impress on his return to the Gtech dugout.

Match preview

Brentford have failed to win any of their four Premier League home games against Tottenham, with three consecutive draws being followed by a 2-0 defeat last season.

Tottenham have won their last four Premier League matches against Brentford and have only lost one in nine overall (W5 D3), a 3-1 defeat in May 2023.

Having won their first league game in five consecutive calendar years between 2020 and 2024, Brentford lost 3-1 at home to Arsenal on New Year’s Day 2025.

Tottenham have lost their first league game in two of the last three calendar years (D1), including a 2-1 home loss to Newcastle in 2025. They’ve not lost their opening league game in consecutive calendar years since 2008/2009.

The Bees are playing a London derby on New Year’s Day in the league for a fifth time (W2 D1 L1).

The Lilywhites have played eight London derbies on New Year’s Day in the league previously and only lost once (W5 D2), a 3-0 defeat to West Ham in 1983.

Keith Andrews’ side have won eight of their last 12 Premier League home games (D2 L2), including four of the last five. Since the start of that 12-game run in April, only Man City (11), Aston Villa (10) and Arsenal (9) have won more Premier League home games than the Bees.

Spurs lost all four of their Premier League matches in January last season, one of three teams to do so, along with Wolves and Southampton. They’ve lost 10 of their last 16 January games (W5 D1), with their last win coming against Thomas Frank’s Brentford in 2024.

Kevin Schade netted three times in Brentford’s 4-1 win over Bournemouth last time out, as many goals as he’d netted in his previous 18 Premier League games. In doing so, he became the first German player to score more than one Premier League hat-trick.

Team news

Brentford

Fabio Carvalho, Josh Dasilva and Antoni Milambo are on the sidelines for the host.

Frank Onyeka and Dango Ouattara are away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Tottenham Hotspur

Xavi Simons is serving his second suspension of his three-match ban.

Destiny Udogie, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke are unavailable due to injuries.

Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr are away at the AFCON.

Predicted line-ups

Brentford: Kelleher, Kayode, Ajer, Collins, Hickey, Yarmoliuk, Janelt, Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard, Schade, Thiago.

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence, Grey, Bentancur, Kudus, Bergvall, Kolo Muani, Richarlison.