Who has the easiest and hardest next four games?published at 17:25 18 October
17:25 18 October
With the October international break now firmly in the rearview mirror, Opta Analyst, external have turned their attention to the next four Premier League fixtures.
Here, they have given each team a ranking between 80 and 100 and then found the average to determine to difficulty of the schedule.
Liverpool's opening seven matches were ranked the easiest in the league, but their upcoming four are the fourth-toughest in the division. They will face Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Brighton, with an average opponent strength of 91.4 before the next international break.
Fellow early pacesetters Arsenal also have challenging fixtures, playing Bournemouth, Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea with an average rating of 90.7, while Manchester City's next four against Wolves, Southampton, Bournemouth and Brighton are ranked the third-easiest by Opta.
Chelsea and Brighton have the second-hardest and third-hardest runs respectively, a real test given the promising starts for their new managers Enzo Maresca and Fabian Hurzeler.
At the other end of the table, Leicester - who recently secured their first win of the season against Bournemouth - have a chance to build with the easiest run in the division. They face Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich and Manchester United.
Fellow promoted side Ipswich will hope to pick up their first win of the season during a run of games that is ranked the fifth-easiest.
The answerpublished at 17:12 18 October
17:12 18 October
Earlier, we asked you to identify the former Brentford player from their Premier League statistics playing for the club.
The correct answer was Sergio Reguilon.
Today's trivia challengepublished at 09:04 18 October
09:04 18 October
Guess the former Brentford player from their Premier League statistics at the club:
Which year? 2024
National team: Spain
Position: Defender
Appearances: 16
Goals: 0
Answer will be revealed at 17:00 BST
Frank on injury latest, Ten Hag 'scrutiny' and quick startspublished at 17:21 17 October
17:21 17 October
Brentford boss Thomas Frank has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Manchester United (kick-off 15:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Frank confirmed that "everyone who was available for the last game is available for this one", with Christian Norgaard and Mikkel Damsgaard both fit.
Yoane Wissa is back "training on the grass with the team" but they will have to wait on his availability for Saturday.
The Bees boss said Rico Henry, who has been out for a year, is in a "positive place" after playing his first 45 minutes in an in-house game this week and that his "smile was very big, maybe even bigger than mine".
On their quick goalscoring starts to games: "A fantastic story and narrative. We train and have a strategy on it, we focus on it before each game and there is a mindset to it as well... it is probably one in a billion we score three goals in under a minute and one goal just over a minute, so that is nice and we will keep trying to do that."
United boss Erik ten Hag faces an "incredible amount of scrutiny" - Frank conceded that "when a team wins the head coach is fantastic" but if they lose then the coach is terrible: "It is never only the coach or the players or the fans or the board, it is probably a combination of things."
On playing at Old Trafford: "I believe we can go anywhere, against any team and beat any team. But I am very aware when we go to Old Trafford, against a club like Manchester United, then they are favourites. We need to go there with the approach and mindset believing we can win. We need to come up with a game plan that optimises our chances for winning."
He added: "I would take some luck [against United]! We will do all we can to play the perfect game as we do every week. We will do it with hard work and then if we can spice it up with a bit of luck then we try to get it over the line to get three points."
Frank "would love to have every key player available" as it would make them "more flexible, unpredictable and perform at an even higher level" but it is an "opportunity" for other players to step up.
Who sprints the most for the Bees?published at 13:11 17 October
13:11 17 October
The data shows one player has put a real shift in for Brentford this season - he's covered the most distance and completed the most sprints for the Bees.
Can managers openly admit mental health struggles?published at 08:08 10 October
08:08 10 October
Former manager Mark Warburton talks to The Football News Show about how managers can deal with mental health struggles while working at a club and what support there is available to them.
'Best performance of the season wraps up wonderful start to the campaign'published at 12:37 8 October
12:37 8 October
Ian Westbrook Fan writer
Another game, another early goal – it’s just Brentford isn’t it!
When Wolves kicked off what turned into a ridiculous game on Saturday, we all thought the Bees’ run of early goals was over, despite chants from the crowd of "we’re going to score in a minute".
So when Nathan Collins’ header hit the back of the net against his former side after only 75 seconds, there was laughter as much as joy among us fans.
However, there were two things about the goal which were more important than its timing.
The first was that it led to a win, unlike the previous three rapid strikes, and secondly that it was the first Premier League goal scored by someone other than Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa this season. Three other different players also found the net later.
It paved the way for Brentford's best performance of the season, despite the Bees conceding three goals, and wrapped up a wonderful start to the campaign.
Given we have had away fixtures at Liverpool, Manchester City and Spurs in our first seven games, no fan could have hoped for much more than 10 points and progression in the Carabao Cup by this international break.
We are unbeaten at home in four games with three wins, only two fewer than in the whole of last season.
The return of Christian Norgaard massively strengthened us on Saturday and we have the likes of Rico Henry, Wissa and Igor Thiago to also come back, among others.
And with Mikkel Damsgaard and Keane Lewis-Potter finally showing the sort of form we hoped for when they signed, I am confident we will have a more comfortable season than the last one.
Is the new VAR working?published at 07:25 8 October
07:25 8 October
A VAR related question was put to chief football writer Phil McNulty on Monday's Q&A.
@nubiblue on 'X' asked: Is the new improved VAR working? To me it continues to favour certain clubs.
Phil answered: First of all, I don't believe VAR favours certain clubs and quite honestly, I've not noticed too much difference or huge improvement.
Maybe a little less interference but I confess I lost a lot of faith in VAR after initially being a strong advocate.
I would be happy with semi-automated offside and line technology.
Brentford 5-3 Wolves - the fans' verdictpublished at 08:38 7 October
08:38 7 October
We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Brentford and Wolves.
Here are some of your comments:
Brentford fans
Ian: Wow! It took us a little longer to score our first goal this week. Our defending at times was too narrow, allowing Wolves to attack down the flanks. Brentford look dangerous going forward. Damsgaard, Norgaard and Janelt worked tirelessly in midfield. Lewis Potter's confidence is growing every week. Happy times at the Gtech!
T.Z Bee: Strong individual performances from Damsgaard, Janelt, Mbuemo... well, pretty much all the team really. They're starting to gel as a unit too. Sepp van den Berg is proving a real asset and I love Ajer rampaging forward. I feared a really tight defensive game. I was wrong.
Mitch: Absolutely mad game - chaotic defending but a deserved win. It was really entertaining, which is surely the point.
Nige: What Thomas Franks has achieved with a limited budget and an injury-hit first team is incredible. In Thomas and Mathew we trust.
Wolves fans
Goldvein: O'Neil needs to read the riot act to a lot of these players to pack in all the showboating every time they score a goal. The lack of concentration is a big problem. His attitude is all wrong. He needs to act like a manager and not like a mate to his underachievers.
Dave: Not the best result for us but I can't fault the commitment of the players. When you score three goals away from home you expect a point at least. The fans who complain about the poor defence will be the same ones who wanted Max Kilman to be sold. Careful what you wish for, especially when calling for the manager to go.
Vinny: Dreadful, absolutely dreadful. It must be obvious to everyone that it's already a relegation battle. Time to change the manager possibly.
David: Dreadful defending again but no surprise to see us bottom of the table at this stage. It was obvious when the fixture list came out that we had by far the toughest start, and we’ve got Manchester City at home and Brighton away next. Hopefully, salvation arrives in November with home games against Crystal Palace, Southampton and Bournemouth. Let’s not panic just yet.
'Frank is one of the best coaches in the Premier League'published at 07:23 7 October
07:23 7 October
Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards was full of praise for Brentford boss Thomas Franks after a "brilliant day" in Saturday's 5-3 win over Wolves.
The Bees recorded their most expected goals, shots on target and big chances in a Premier League game and equalled their record haul of five goals.
"They were extraordinary," Richards told Match of he Day. "Thomas Frank is one of the best coaches in the Premier League.
"We worked with him during the Euros. Tactically, he knows exactly what he wants from his teams and against Wolves he wanted to get the ball forward as quickly as possible.
"They just showed what they want to do and all the players bought into that as a team performance going forward.
"I thought Sepp van den Berg was excellent. Wolves defended quite narrowly so they had space down the wings. What he meant by get the ball forwards - it's not just his midfielders, he wants his defenders to step in as well.
"Frank said he wants to create chaos and progress the ball as quickly as possible - but it's not only that, it's also winning the ball back with urgency when you're in attacking areas and they did exactly that.
"It was just a brilliant day for them. Of course, if you concede that many goals you won't be too happy - but attacking-wise, excellent."
'Offensively - wow!' - Frankpublished at 18:41 5 October
18:41 5 October
Brentford manager Thomas Frank, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We’ve been practising winning the coin toss all week, and we lost it. That’s why it took us so long [to score].
"AIl jokes aside, we want to get forward as quickly as possible and put crosses into the box. After they made it 2-2, we scored 32 seconds after the kick-off.
"Offensively - wow! Unbelievable. We seemed to create a chance every time we went forward, and we were such a threat from set pieces. Defensively, I’m mostly angry about the first goal. The second one, we lost the ball - it was quite good play from them. For their third goal we could have done better.
"We gave less away compared to the West Ham game, but we still need to improve."
Brentford 5-3 Wolves: Bees kick on after latest fast startpublished at 18:05 5 October
18:05 5 October
Matthew Howarth BBC Sport journalist
Despite scoring inside the opening 40 seconds on each occasion, Brentford failed to build on their bright starts against Manchester City, Tottenham and West Ham.
Not only did the Bees manage to kick on from Nathan Collins' early header against Wolves, they refused to relinquish control of the game after being pegged back twice by the visitors, scoring twice more through Christian Norgaard and Ethan Pinnock to lead 4-2 at the break.
Brentford looked like scoring from every attack and would have won by an even greater margin had it not been for Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, who saved from Keane Lewis-Potter and Kevin Schade before the interval.
Bryan Mbeumo continued his fine form, netting his sixth Premier League goal of the season from the penalty spot to make it 2-1. The winger has now scored in three consecutive league appearances for the first time since December 2019, when he enjoyed a run of four in the Championship.
There was little change to the pattern of play in the second half, with Pinnock going close to doubling his personal tally and Schade shooting straight at Johnstone in a one-against-one.
They hosts had to wait until the 90th minute to add to their advantage, Fabio Carvalho netting his first Premier League goal for the club from close range.
Ait-Nouri’s stoppage-time strike put a more respectable sheen on the scoreline from a Wolves perspective, but Thomas Frank will be thrilled with his players' efforts.
Brentford 5-3 Wolves - Key statpublished at 17:34 5 October
17:34 5 October
Bryan Mbuemo has registered 49 goal involvements across 105 Premier League matches for Brentford (28 goals, 21 assists) and has now scored in three consecutive games in the division for the first time.
Frank adding style to Brentford's substancepublished at 17:19 5 October
17:19 5 October
Nizaar Kinsella BBC Sport football news reporter, at the Brentford Community Stadium
Is Thomas Frank showing a tactical evolution in Brentford's style?
The Dane has been known for having a high energy, direct and physical approach while also maximising set-pieces since promotion to the Premier League in 2021.
But while getting balls in the box early and crossing from wide areas remain key, especially amid a spate of four early goals, there are other changes quietly being made.
Brentford are playing a more attacking approach with a back four, that transforms into a back three, as is becoming popular at top clubs like Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, with Sepp van den Berg, 22, drifting into midfield as an inverted full-back.
The Dutchman, signed in the summer from Liverpool for £25million, was attempting to overload Rayan Ait-Nouri, a brilliant attacking full-back but one who sometimes drifts off on his defensive duties.
It is credit to van den Berg that he often ended up in positions he is not associated with as Brentford created chance after chance, albeit while giving a few away.
They were good value for their 5-3 win against Wolves and despite some things remaining the same, there are changes afoot without Ivan Toney in the team, and as new signings begin to bed in.
Of course, the change of approach to a more modern, fashionable style is interesting given Frank was linked with the Manchester United and Chelsea job in the summer, but others with trendier approaches ended up getting those roles ahead of him.