In this Saturday's Premier League London derby, rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford square off after both teams overcame inferior opposition to defeat lower-league opponents in the EFL Cup.
While Ange Postecoglou's team struggled mightily to defeat Coventry City, ultimately winning by a score of two goals to one, the Bees triumphed 3-1 over Leyton Orient.
A day after reiterating his assertion that he "always" wins trophies in his second year of employment—a statement that, for the time being, is factually accurate—Spurs manager Postecoglou was just a few minutes away from witnessing Tottenham's dreams of becoming an EFL Cup champion come crashing down in Coventry.
In the end, two brilliant substitutes—Djed Spence and the recently-vilified Brennan Johnson—saved Postecoglou's humiliation. If Brandon Thomas-Asante's strike had been the game-winning goal, the lackluster Lilywhites would have had few complaints.
Even if Tottenham's offensive performance was dreadful, there is some hope that the Lilywhites' unexpected triumph on Wednesday may bring about a turnaround because Spurs have been nothing like they were a year ago.
Living in the 13th positions in English premier league table due to the poor opening matches results, Tottenham now aims to lose three of the first five matches of a season for the first time since the 2008-09 season when Juande Ramos was replaced during the first eight matches of the season.
As for Brentford, they also had to struggle hard to earn their EFL Cup third round win against Leyton Orient which brought a 1-0 lead to the Bees after 88 minutes when Brandon Cooper scored an 11th minute consolation goal for the visitors at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Only six minutes after that, ex-Liverpool wonderkid Fabio Carvalho restored the home side’s parity with an outstanding overhead kick, and then later, Mikkel Damsgaard headed home and Christian Norgaard made a precise finish as Brentford escape a monumental upset.
The Bees’ 3-1 victory ensured them another win at the Gtech Community Stadium this season, also having defeateds Crystal Palace and Southampton on home soil, however Frank’s side are now set for a third successive away game against one of the traditional ‘big six’.
Brentford are one of only three teams with no away point in 2 games in this season, however, the Bees have had to face Liverpool at Anfield and Manchester City at the Etihad and give the champions a real scare last week only the Erling Haalands double.
Their past four away North London derbies in the previous season were losses and the most recent one in January this year at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium also saw Frank’s crop lose 3-2. There ought to be a guarantee of entertainment on a saturday afternoon; the last four encounters between the two london- based rival teams have failed to produce a goal total below 17 goals.
In fact, Tottenham was unable to defeat a depleted Arsenal squad at home last weekend. Arsenal's set-piece deficiencies were once again exposed when Gabriel Magalhaes headed home a second-half corner, marking the 25th Premier League goal that Saturday's hosts have given up from dead-ball situations since the season began.
Midweek saw two further blows to Tottenham's forward lines as Timo Werner and Wilson Odobert were both substituted out of the team's triumph over Coventry; Postecoglou has acknowledged that the former's injury seems to be severe.
Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski are prepared and ready for aggressive recalls; Werner should be recovered in time, but the German put on a dismal performance on Wednesday and would have pulled out anyway.
Both Richarlison (unspecified) and Yves Bissouma (groin) are in the Tottenham treatment room, but Postecoglou is hopeful that the former's problem can be resolved in time for him to play on Saturday.
