MY ACCOUNT
Brentford are in desperate need of some help, with a mid-season slip putting their Premier League future in jeopardy.
Luckily, the Bees landed assist king Christian Eriksen in the January transfer window and will hope the Dane can aid their hopes of staying up.
Ahead of the trip to Everton in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, we take a look behind the scenes at the Brentford Community Stadium to assess their chances of beating the drop.
Assist it like Beckham
It is easy to forget how capable Eriksen was after his Tottenham career ended with him rotating in and out of the side and struggling for confidence.
But he was in elite company at his peak — the only other Premier League player to assist 10 or more goals in four consecutive seasons is Manchester United icon David Beckham.
Brentford have scored nine times in their last 10 league games, picking up just seven points from a possible 30.
Strikers Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo have three strikes between them in that run and will hope Eriksen’s arrival will help unlock defences as well as taking attention away from themselves.
The Bees’ previous successes came with Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma and Mbeumo working in tandem and the Dane’s arrival could see the creation of a new deadly trio.
Eriksen, 29, has a point to prove as he returns from his cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 and will have plenty of motivation ahead of this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Toney Controversy
Toney has issued an apology after being filmed making disparaging comments about the club in a video that emerged on social media last week.
The striker took to Instagram to apologise, claiming that the clip had been edited.
Many fans are yet to forgive Toney, as the Bees helped him advance his career after snapping him up from Peterborough.
He is now under investigation but looks likely to play in the coming games with a lack of alternatives in boss Thomas Frank’s squad.
Will this give Toney something more to fight for, and will we see more goals to back up his apology?
Other Brentford transfer news
Frank seems to be sticking to his Danish roots in the transfer market.
As well as the marquee Eriksen signing, the Bees also brought in goalkeeper Jonas Lossl and Nigerian midfielder Frank Onyeka from Danish Superliga outfit Midtjylland.
Whether or not the new arrivals will be enough to keep Brentford’s top-flight status for another season, competing against the likes of big-spending Newcastle and revitalised Norwich, remains to be seen.
Despite four defeats in a row, they have an eight-point gap to the 18th-placed Magpies, who have two games in hand.
If Eriksen can rediscover anything close his best form and Toney plays like a man with something to prove, Frank should have enough firepower to get over the line.
