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Beesotted contributors The Gowler and Paul Kowalczyk (@BeesBreakdown) give us the tactical and statistical lowdown of Brentford’s win against Southampton.

Thomas Frank stuck with using a 4-3-3 against teams in the lower half of the Premier League table. Hickey returned from injury to replace Roerslev, who has had a good run of form recently. The top choice centerback pairing of Pinnock and Ben Mee accompanied Rico Henry on the back line. The midfield trio was Jensen, Nørgaard, and Dasilva.

Josh Dasilva was looking to prove his place in the squad, and he made a very strong case for himself. The front three of Wissa, Toney, and Mbeumo were able to get in behind because of passes from Dasilva.

Southampton started in their usual 4-2-3-1 with James Ward-Prowse highlighting the starting XI. New signings Sulemana and Onuachu were available off the bench, and Nathan Jones quickly subbed them on at the half.  Southampton settled into a 4-4-2 with the substitutions, but occasionally required their wide midfielders to drop deep on defence.

1st Minute

6th Minute

11th Minute

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41st Minute

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71st Minute

80th Minute

 

Quick Stats:

Possession: Brentford 49% – 51% Southampton

xG: Brentford 2.13 – 0.62 Southampton

Big Chances: Brentford 4 – 2 Southampton

Other Brentford stats:

Total Shots: 14

Interceptions: 7

Tackles won: 8 (57%)

Aerial duels won: 20 (44%)

Summary

Overall, Brentford had one of their best performances in recent memory. A win against bottom of the league Southampton may not feel as big as a win at the Etihad or a win over Liverpool, but Brentford dominated this match from start to finish. The Bees created 2.13 xG, but had many more chances than this implies.

Brentford got into dangerous areas using a variety of tactics. Brentford were able to capitalize on poor transition defence and set plays. Brentford did especially well playing through the center of the pitch. This was an impressive display that showed the Bees are highly capable of playing attractive football, but rarely do we see Brentford consistently stringing together this many elite passes.

Dasilva didn’t have any goals or assists, but he had the most progressive carries and shot creating actions. Wissa did well running in behind and racked up 0.8 expected assisted goals, but Dasilva was the one starting these dangerous chances for the Bees. Mbeumo also had an excellent match from scoring goals to assisting goals, and even being asked to provide a lot of support on defence.

Southampton rarely had goal scoring opportunities and typically created chances from long balls or when Brentford was out of position after corners. It was great to see the Bees take care of business against a team they should beat.