Ben Burgess became a fan favourite at Griffin Park during the 2001/02 campaign, netting 18 goals in 51 appearances while on loan from Blackburn Rovers. In total, Ben led the line for 10 clubs during a 14-year career.

Now a teacher in Lancashire, Ben still keeps a close eye on the Bees and will be providing his thoughts ahead of each game this season.

Brilliant Bees

After watching Brentford beat Fulham last week, I couldn’t help but marvel at the brilliance of Ivan Toney.

Having played as a striker for my whole career, I know what a tough and highly pressurised role it is.

It’s not the cheeky pass with his backside or the fantastic attempt to lob Bernd Leno from the halfway line that sets him apart, it’s the work he does for his team that matters most.

He defends set-pieces, holds the ball up under pressure, brings others into play, wins free-kicks to relieve the pressure on his defence and, more often than not, scores important goals.

Jamie Carragher believes he’s right up there with the best forwards in the Premier League and I agree. Harry Kane and Erling Haaland have both scored more goals, but neither help out their defence as much as Toney, which is highlighted by how many tackles and headed clearances he makes.

The improvement he has shown since joining the Bees has been incredible.

David Raya’s story is even more impressive - from Southport on loan to the Spain national team.

A recent interview with his old coach at Blackburn Rovers gave a great insight into the work he did on his touch and comfort on the ball, as well as his love of futsal at a young age. He may not be the tallest goalkeeper, but his footwork when making saves is outstanding.

In a league with an abundance of excellent keepers, no goalkeeper has been used more - by his team-mates and opposition players - this season. Raya has faced the most shots, made the most saves, claimed the most crosses, made more touches, and completed the most passes out of all the other top-flight goalkeepers in the current campaign.

On the run

There have been some interesting runs in the Premier League recently.

And, this week, Crystal Palace ‘earned’ the unenviable record of having zero shots on target in their last three games - although they were against Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester City!

The Bees were on their own incredible 12-game unbeaten run heading into Saturday’s fixture at Goodison Park against Everton. Sadly, that came to an end, despite completely dominating the second half.

Tottenham Hotspur are enduring a 15-year barren spell without a trophy, and that sequence will continue after disappointing exits in the Champions League and FA Cup.

And, on an individual level, Toney has scored 22 consecutive penalties for Brentford, while Marcus Rashford had also scored in nine consecutive games at Old Trafford to equal a 64-year record.

What all of these achievements have in common is that at some point they will all end. Dealing with the highs and lows of these situations are what usually separates the good teams and players from the great.

Brentford will be looking to bounce straight back at Southampton and show that Saturday's defeat was a blip.

Manchester United have had that resilience this season to put disappointment to one side and respond positively. They lost 4-0 to Brentford, 6-3 to Manchester City and 7-0 to Liverpool yet, on each of those occasions, they won the next game.

Conversely, Liverpool can’t seem to put any sort of run together, after a concerning 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth, despite their victory over United the week before.

Watch out for Crystal Palace having a shot straight from kick-off next match just to get their particular ‘record’ off their backs!