Gameweek 1 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is drawing ever nearer and we’re profiling all 20 Premier League teams before the season starts.
After weighing up what Arsenal and Aston Villa players have to offer, we continue our team-by-team guides with Brentford.
You can check out our Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Bournemouth analysis in our Promoted series (articles that will be refreshed before the big kick-off).
Data in this article comes from our Premium Members Area, which you can access with a discounted subscription for as little as £2.49 a month today.
LAST SEASON: ATTACK
| Total | Rank v other Premier League clubs | |
| Goals scored | 48 | 11th |
| Shots | 442 | 13th |
| Shots in the box | 317 | 7th |
| Shots on target | 147 | =11th |
| Big chances | 67 | 9th |
| Expected goals (xG) | 52.39 | 11th |
The attacking statistics for Brentford very much rank in mid-table, which isn’t bad for a newly-promoted side making their Premier League debut.
However, their year splits into life with and without Christian Eriksen (£6.5m). His Gameweek 28 debut followed a terrible run of nine defeats from 11 matches, totalling just four points and six goals in those months.
Until Gameweek 27, the Bees were down in 17th place for total shots and 15th for goals scored.
Eriksen’s arrival sparked a late-season revival of seven wins and 21 goals but, now that the Dane has departed for Manchester United, we don’t know how good Brentford will be in their second campaign.
Headline-making victories came against Arsenal on the opening Friday, plus a 4-1 win away to Chelsea. Also impressive was doing the double over West Ham United.
LAST SEASON: DEFENCE
| Total | Rank v other Premier League clubs | |
| Goals conceded | 56 | 12th |
| Clean sheets | 9 | =10th |
| Shots conceded | 503 | 10th |
| Shots in the box conceded | 305 | 8th |
| Shots on target conceded | 179 | 13th |
| Big chances conceded | 69 | =10th |
| Expected goals conceded (xGC) | 55.14 | 8th |
Again, Brentford’s numbers line up slightly better than their 13th-placed finish.
Most of their season was played with a back-three system, which might explain why they ranked eighth-best for conceding shots inside the penalty area. They were seventh-best at allowing attempts from the left flank but 13th for those down the right.
Three of their nine clean sheets arrived within the first five outings, catching FPL managers off-guard. Of course, those who then bought a defensive asset had to wait until Gameweeks 13 and 25 for the next pair.
From Brentford defenders, only Chelsea scored more than their 13 – which includes the three of reclassified Sergi Canos (£5.0m). Add this to defensive assists and they are the best outside of last season’s top four (25).
Pontus Jansson (£4.5m) lead the way for matches started, with 37, while Rico Henry (£4.5m) and Ethan Pinnock (£4.5m) follow with 33 and 32.
OPENING FIXTURES
The opening run of Brentford fixtures is very generous, avoiding all of last season’s top four until Gameweek 12.
In fact, starting from Gameweek 3, they top our Season Ticker all the way up to Gameweek 16.
PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 1 LINE-UP
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