Tottenham Hotspur fans would have been expectant of great things coming into this season. Roberto De Zerbi had the squad performing admirably at the conclusion of last season as the club narrowly avoided relegation, and a strong preseason campaign combined with a flurry of activity in the transfer market seemed to herald a new dawn for the North London club. Instead, Spurs looked all at sea in their opening match of the 2026/27 season, crashing to a 3-0 defeat as they were dominated in all facets
by a buoyant Brentford side.
Spurs’ starting XI was much as expected, in line with the side De Zerbi had used in preseason accounting for absences due to World Cup duties, fitness, and injury. Mikey Moore made his second Spurs start on the right wing while Archie Gray captained the side, lining up at right back. He rounded out a new-look backline, with Gray, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, and Andy Robertson making up the back four. Keith Andrews named a strong side of his own, with new signing Mamadou Sangare lining up in midfield for Brentford and no room for Mikel Damsgaard, such was the quality of Brentford’s other attacking options.
The first half was all Brentford, with Spurs looking all at sea. The home side nearly opened the scoring early via a set piece, as Andy Robertson’s defensive header deflected narrowly over the crossbar, before Nathan Collins couldn’t direct a header of his own on target. The chances kept coming for Brentford, as Keane Lewis-Potter easily beat Archie Gray to deliver a cross that was fortunate to not be directed by Jan Paul van Hecke into his own goal.
Brentford finally made their domination count. Mamadou Sangare played a one-two with Dango Outtara, as both Lucas Bergvall and Andy Robertson failed to track the run of the Malian midfielder. Outtara squared simply for Lewis-Potter, who was open on the penalty spot for essentially a tap-in.
It wasn’t long before Brentford doubled their lead. Richarlison’s pass back to Bergvall was loose with the Swede then too casual taking the ball in possession, losing out to Mathias Jensen. The Dane ripped a shot from the top of the 18-yard box and Antonin Kinsky made a meal of it, seemingly misjudging the direction of the shot as he reached back across his body to make the save. The Czech keeper succeeded only in palming the ball out to Vitaly Janelt who finished comfortable from close range. Spurs were stunned, and Brentford took a 2-0 lead into the half.
Roberto De Zerbi made a double change at half-time in an effort to get Spurs back into the match: Rodrigo Bentancur and Mateus Fernandes came in for Bergvall and Conor Gallagher. Unfortunately, the resultant impact was not what De Zerbi would have hoped for, with Brentford scoring again almost immediately after the break. Kinsky made a fantastic save at close range from a Sangare shot following a set piece, but once more palmed the ball out into a dangerous area, where Michael Kayode was on hand for the rebound.
Things could have gone from bad to worse for Spurs, as Bentancur clumsily pulled down Kevin Schade from behind. Referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot, but Igor Thiago was unable to capitalize, his penalty striking the left-hand upright as Kinsky dived the wrong way.
A flurry of substitutions followed as Brentford looked to hold their lead and Spurs looked for a way to break it, but outside of a couple of half-chances for Mikey Moore, who was unable to beat Caoimhin Kelleher, the Lilywhites looked more workmanlike than creative. Spurs were unable to make a dent in the Brentford defense, and the match finished 3-0 to the home side.
Reactions
- Happy birthday to me, I guess.
- That, kids, is why we don’t put too much stock in preseason. Spurs were awful and barely looked like they’d played together; a clear drop-off from what we’d seen in the build-up.
- Part of that was Brentford’s movement, both in and out of possession. Spurs’ defense was easily dragged out of shape by their fluidity, and the intensity of the Bees’ press appeared to surprise the Lilywhites, with Spurs barely able to escape their own half at times.
- That press dropped off around 20 minutes in (thankfully) and Spurs started to have some momentary relief, but still struggled to create anything meaningful from settled possession. It wasn’t quite Thomas Frank’s 0.03 xG, but it still felt very much like Spurs could have played another three 90-minute spells and not scored.
- Spurs’ midfield in that first half was woeful. Lucas Bergvall was at least partially culpable for both of Brentford’s first half goals, and Sandro Tonali looked nowhere near worth his price tag, completely invisible. I remarked in the masthead chat around 10 minutes in that I didn’t think he’d touched the ball.
- Another masthead chat comment from somebody else: “Brentford are making this backline look as unathletic as they are”. A lot of physical, athletic sides will expose van Hecke and Senesi. They constantly lost out on aerial duels and were unable to cover space in behind them. It’s not a great pairing, and was exacerbated by the selections of Gray and Robertson at fullback.
- Mikey Moore at least had a couple of bright moments. Maybe things go differently if he finishes one of his three opportunities? It was good at least to see him get into good positions.
- At least it can’t get much worse. Right? RIGHT???
- Next up: Charlton Athletic in midweek for the League Cup. Spurs could use a match against a lower league side right now.
- COYS.
