Brentford take on Newcastle United in the EFL Cup quarterfinals this week (you can catch all the action on Paramount+ and CBS Sports Network) and it presents the Bees with a rare shot at potential silverware if they can reach the final four. Few would begrudge Thomas Frank that sort of success given the impressive job that the Danish tactician has done overall with the London-based club since 2018.
If Brentford are to continue to dream of a pathway to European qualification via at least one domestic cup, though, it will require their key men to be at their best. Two of those star names are France-born pair Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa who are establishing themselves in the English Premier League despite not really being widely known in their homeland.
Mbeumo is now a Cameroon international while Wissa represents DR Congo and the duo are the Bees’ top two goal scorers by a long way so far this season. With a combined total of 19 goals and three assists for 22 goal involvements, that impacts all but 10 of their team’s EPL goals scored tally of 32 so far this campaign.
Mbeumo is arguably their main man with 10 goals and two assists across all competitions although all have come in the Premier League. The 25-year-old joined in 2019 from Troyes and was part of the Brentford side that wo promotion from the EFL Championship in 2021 and has already hit the 200 appearances and 50 goals mark.
However, Wissa is not far behind with nine goals and 1 assist across all competitions although those have also all have come in the EPL like Mbeumo’s. As for the 28-year-old, he was a 2021 arrival from Lorient upon promotion to the English topflight and has already passed both 100 appearances as well as 30 goals.
Both Mbeumo and Wissa are key to the Bees’ attacking repertoire under Frank and that includes the team’s trademark extremely early opening goals which made Premier League history earlier this term. The West Londoners remarkably scored inside the opening 40 seconds in three consecutive topflight games with Mbeumo scoring two of them and Wissa the other.
It was the latter who struck against Manchester City back on Sept. 14, after just 22 seconds, before the former netted after 23 seconds against Tottenham Hotspur, and 37 seconds against West Ham United. That feat made Brentford the first team in Premier League history to score inside the opening minute in three straight games, with only Everton in 1998-99 managing it across different games.
High scoring home games have also been a major feature of this season for Frank’s troops with 40 goals already scored across eight games at the Gtech Community Stadium which is an average of around five goals per game so far in the Premier League. The Bees could easily better the highest average number of goals per game in a campaign which is Chelsea’s 82-goal average of 4.3 at Stamford Bridge back in 2009-10 under Carlo Ancelotti.
How far can Brentford go? Currently 11th in the EPL and just out of reach of the European places, the EFL Cup might be their best route towards continental soccer next term. There might still be hope in the FA Cup from January onwards, but that will take a series of strong showings to reach the quarterfinals which is where Frank’s men currently are in the League Cup.
Victory over Newcastle at St James’ Park would take the Bees into the final four and at that stage, Arsenal, Liverpool and one of Tottenham Hotspur or Manchester United could be paired together and give the West London side a feasible route to Wembley Stadium. Considering Frank’s incredible work with the team thanks to signings like Mbeumo and Wissa, the high point of their chapter together could be about to be written in the EFL Cup.
