'I think we deserved to win'published at 19:02 19 April
19:02 19 April
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Brentford striker Bryan Mbeumo speaking to Premier League Productions: "We are very happy. Obviously we haven't won here for eight games. I think we deserved the win. We are very, very happy."
On Brentford's game plan: "Of course we knew we could hit them in behind on the transition and this is what we did today. We respected the game plan very well. To press as high as we can and to win the ball."
On the winless run at home: "Yeah it's been hard. When they went to 10-men they kept pushing and came back but we secured the win at the end."
On the 'friendly rivalry' with Yoane Wissa: "I think we try to help the team to win, him and me. I think we can do it until the end of the season."
Sutton's predictions: Brentford v Brightonpublished at 11:43 19 April
11:43 19 April
Brighton have had a bit of a dip in form and started conceding a few goals, so their hopes of breaking into the top five are probably gone now.
Even so, the 10th-placed Seagulls are one of those teams where just when you think about writing them off, they will come up with a performance and wallop someone.
I don't expect that to happen on Saturday, however. Brentford are only one place below them in the table and although they are not on a great run either, the Bees are always hard to beat.
The more I think about it, the more it smells of a draw. I am pretty sure the BBC readers are going to go for a draw too, so we all agree on this one.
Frank on a European spot, friendships and injury updatespublished at 16:27 18 April
16:27 18 April
Tyrese King BBC Sport journalist
Brentford boss Thomas Frank has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Brighton (kick-off 15:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Frank expects everyone who was available last week for the 1-1 draw against Arsenal to be available against Brighton.
Providing an update on Aaron Hickey and Igor Thiago, who have not featured for the Bees this year, he says that both players are "getting closer" and that it "all looks good" to return soon.
On team morale: "They're in good spirits, I think some weeks are good in of training, other weeks are fantastic, and this week has been fantastic."
Brentford "need to win" if they want any chance of finishing in a European spot this term, according to Frank.
He said further: "We have plenty to aim for still. The simple one to aim for is to just finish as high as possible, and everything is still there for us - a top-10 finish would be fantastic for the club."
Frank explained: "Everyone is speaking about Europe and that's tough - if we want any ambition about that, we need to win on Saturday, against a team that also needs to win on Saturday!"
On the atmosphere in Brentford: "I'm a big believer that if there is a good atmosphere and relationship between the players, then they are more willing to go the extra mile for each other. It's very rare that every player is friends with each other, but there are people who are closer than others in the squad."
On Bryan Mbeumo and Yoanne Wissa - who have both hit 15 or more goals this season, Frank said: "I think that they will be friends always, even when they stop playing football. It's a privilege to coach them and see them everyday because they are so lively and always have big smiles coming in."
Frank also praised young defender Michael Kayode: " I think he was very good when he came on. He was energetic, constantly bombarding forward, going up and down. I thought he was strong defensively as well in his one-on-one duels."
On Brighton: "I think they have had a good season. I think [Fabian] Hurzeler has done a good job in his first year in the Premier League. Clearly he's a talented coach, who like all of us are learning on the way."
Today's trivia challengepublished at 07:21 18 April
07:21 18 April
Guess the current Brentford player from these three clues:
I ed Brentford from Liverpool.
I had loan spells at Preston, Schalke and Mainz during my time with Liverpool.
I am yet to score a Premier League goal for the Bees.
Come back to this page later for the answer
Brentford v Brighton: Did you know?published at 16:53 17 April
16:53 17 April
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Brentford have won just one of their seven Premier League games against Brighton and that was a 2-0 home victory in October 2022.
Gossip: Frank linked to Spurs jobpublished at 07:43 16 April
07:43 16 April
Tottenham have identified Brentford head coach Thomas Frank, Fulham boss Marco Silva and Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola as candidates to replace Ange Postecoglou should he be dismissed. (Teamtalk), external
'Kayode could give Hickey and Ajer real competition'published at 12:26 15 April
12:26 15 April
Ian Westbrook Fan writer
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Michael Kayode showed he can be Brentford's next successful g with a brilliant cameo performance at Arsenal on Saturday.
The on-loan Fiorentina right-back has struggled for minutes since arriving at the club in January, partly because of injury.
He has failed to start a game but had made five substitute appearances before the weekend's trip across London - only one of which had been before the 80th minute.
However, following his earliest introduction to date - in the 69th minute - he played a crucial role in two key moments that earned the Bees a point.
Firstly, his overlap run and brilliant dinked cross set up Nathan Collins to head back to Yoane Wissa for our equaliser.
Then almost immediately at the other end, he made a brilliant goal-saving tackle to deny Bukayo Saka after a mistake by Mark Flekken.
Kayode has looked an exciting player every time he has come on so far.
Full of enthusiasm and with an amazing long throw, his debut against Spurs in February left us wanting to see more of him, but after three more brief appearances that month, the Brentford injury curse struck him down.
He returned - again briefly - against Chelsea at the start of April, before his starring role on Saturday.
Given our safe position in the table and the fact Kayode is on loan with a view to a potential full transfer in the summer, I think it would be worth giving him some starts in our remaining six games to judge just how good he is.
If he continues in the same vein and we sign him in the summer, then he could give hopefully fit-again Aaron Hickey, and the likes of Kristoffer Ajer, some real competition at right-back next season.
Brentford enter multi-club partnership with Merida ADpublished at 10:07 15 April
10:07 15 April
Nizaar Kinsella BBC Sport football news reporter
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Image caption,
Matthew Benham bought his boyhood club Brentford in 2007 and brought them up the leagues
Brentford are set to re-establish a multi-club system after the purchase of Spanish third division side Merida AD.
Merida has been bought by Brentford's holding company Best Intentions Analytics, rather than the club itself or owner Matthew Benham directly, but the west Londoners will be part of a multi-club system again after Danish side Midtjylland were sold in 2023.
Merida, fifth in the third tier and operating in the province of Badajoz in western Spain, will have access to the same innovative analytics systems that helped Brentford punch above their weight since Benham's purchase in 2007.
Best Intentions is currently seeking investment and valued at £400million.
Sources close to Benham say he prefers a minority partner with expertise in media, advertising and commercial spaces but could be tempted into a full sale should an offer be substantial enough.
Arsenal 1-1 Brentford - the fans' verdictpublished at 10:53 14 April
10:53 14 April
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We asked for your thoughts after Arsenal's Premier League game against Brentford, which ended as a 1-1 draw.
Here are some of your comments:
Arsenal fans
Guy: I'm not surprised by a lack of victory. Arsenal have been poor all year in the league. Second flatters us. We just don't look like winning these types of matches anymore.
Rachel: Disappointed, but not surprised by the performance. It wasn't easy to choose a standout player, probably Thomas Partey who had a decent match. Lacklustre and below par, seems that this is standard for the time of year. No doubt Real Madrid is looming large on the horizon.
Bola: Lacklustre, uninspiring. Mikel Arteta blew it, he killed the momentum with the first substitutions after Arsenal's goal. Ill-timed, poor judgment.
Tony: The B team were doing so well. I really can't understand why Arteta felt the need to make changes, to bring on the A team. All went downhill from that point and Brentford seized the initiative. Points needlessly thrown away.
Shaun: It's amazing that Arteta hardly ever makes a sub until late in the game when he starts with his strongest 11. Yet against Brentford, he makes three after an hour and surprisingly it's three players who were playing well. We were far better before the subs. Leandro Trossard clearly can't play centrally, and worryingly, Martin Odegaard was very poor again. There was not a lot in the game, but yet again we've failed to secure a win after taking the lead - a total of 16 points now dropped this season.
Brentford fans
Keith: It just shows how far we've come as a club when you can nullify a team like Arsenal for most of the match and only concede on the counter.
Will: This is a point we'd have been happy with any day this season, and I felt like we played well and went toe-to-toe with the Gunners. We didn't have many chances but we found a way. I hope we will see more of Gustavo Nunes and Michael Kayode as I feel like they added a variety we seem to need right now to be creative and undo opponents. A set of very tough matches done, the run in looks promising and I hope we can achieve a top-half finish.
Catch up on the Premier League actionpublished at 13:39 13 April
13:39 13 April
Highlights and analysis from Saturday's five Premier League fixtures.
'We are never celebrating a point but it is a very good point'published at 20:13 12 April
20:13 12 April
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Thomas Frank spoke to Sky Sports after Brentford's draw against Arsenal: "Of course, it is a very good point against a very good Arsenal team that beat Real Madrid four days ago. Fighting back to get to 1-1 shows the character in our team. I would have loved us to create more but they also defended very well."
On Yoane Wissa scoring again: "It is such a privilege. How many No nines have scored 15 Premier League goals this year for a team that, with all due respect, is not amongst best in the league? That is a big credit to Wissa but also the chances we create."
On his ambitions: "We would love to compete for Europe and aim for as high as possible in many ways. That is what we are fighting for every single year and game. We are never celebrating a point but it is a very good point. We will keep pushing."
Did you know?published at 19:37 12 April
19:37 12 April
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Yoane Wissa scored his 15th Premier League goal this season, making Brentford the first side to have two players score 15+ this term (Bryan Mbeumo on16).
Arsenal 1-1 Brentford - send us your thoughtspublished at 19:25 12 April
19:25 12 April
Were you at Emirates Stadium or following from elsewhere?
Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies
Sutton's predictions: Arsenal v Brentfordpublished at 11:11 12 April
11:11 12 April
I wanted Arsenal to try to push Liverpool in the title race but boss Mikel Arteta clearly knew something I did not, resting his players against Everton last weekend and then demolishing Real Madrid the way they did.
Arteta will make changes again here before Wednesday's second leg at the Bernabeu, and the fact it will not be the Gunners' strongest side makes this quite hard to predict.
Brentford are very capable but I have a feeling the Gunners will still have enough to win, even though they are prioritising Europe now.
Image source, Getty Images
