KRECORD OF “FIRST” STRIKES
Scored 4 goals in less than the first 3 minutes! At first it seems “sensational”, or the commentators are a bit exaggerating to emphasize the phenomenon of Brentford often scoring very early in recent matches in the Premier League. Anyway, it’s not a fabrication. Brentford opened the scoring in 22 seconds against Man.City; 23rd second against Tottenham; 38th second against West Ham; and 75 seconds against Wolverhampton. A total of 4 goals in the first 158 seconds of the last 4 matches!
Scoring a goal in the first minute in three consecutive matches is a towering record, not only in the Premier League era but in the entire history of the English championship. In the 4th match, it was truly unimaginable, although there was a slight difference enough for Brentford’s strange record to stop at 3: they had to wait until… the 2nd minute to open the score, first. Wolverhampton. Noteworthy reason: while Brentford always served the ball in the previous 3 matches, in the 4th match, Wolverhampton was the team that served the ball.
Ignoring the “sensational” aspect, the situation of Brentford regularly scoring goals early is an interesting story in terms of expertise. One thing is certain: repetition in four consecutive matches cannot be a coincidence. What’s more: in the win over Wolverhampton (opening the score at 75 seconds), Brentford also quickly scored another similar goal. After losing 2-2, Brentford only took 32 seconds after the kickoff to score to increase the score to 3-2.
The characteristic of top matches in general is that early goals (within the first 2 minutes) often do not come from obvious opportunities. It is very difficult to have such goals, considering the data that has recently appeared in the world of football statistics: the xG index, which means “expected goals” from a shot. The total chance of scoring all 3 opening goals in the first minute of Brentford is only 0.54 – meaning on average each shot has only an 18% chance of scoring.
XDESERVE TO ENJOY THE RESULTS
When the statistics are so numerous that they can balance out pure luck, it is clear that Brentford deserved the early goals they scored. Since the beginning of the season until now, the total xG index in the first 90 seconds of 7 matches is 0.83 for Brentford. This index is the highest in the tournament and 4 times higher than the next team – Tottenham with an xG index of 0.21. Giants Man.City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea are all in the middle of the table with xG from 0.03 – 0.09. As for MU, this index is completely 0. The Old Trafford team has not made any shots in the first 90 seconds of this season. This is one of the contrasting aspects like day and night in the MU – Brentford match tonight.
It’s always the same: more than half of Brentford’s squad stands right next to the midfield line (as high as possible), with only 1-2 players standing lower than the midfield circle. There are always at least 4 players standing completely to the right, in front of the ball. Their opponents just follow a familiar tactical scheme. That is when Brentford has the right to serve the ball. When the opponent serves the ball, Brentford has to wait until they have the ball before they can attack. They will pass back to the goalkeeper or centre-back and immediately the next pass takes the ball long and high to the right, where many Brentford players are already waiting.
Set-piece coach Keith Andrews gave Brentford a lot of passing practice as soon as he appeared last summer. The “trick” just mentioned is prepared. And Brentford not only prepared that “trick” well (wait and see). What is worth mentioning here is that Brentford views the serve as a fixed situation that can be practiced to maximize its effectiveness. On the contrary, people often “don’t fight” in the first few minutes. Statistics show: The first 10 minutes of superstar Lionel Messi’s entire career are almost just for… walking.