Keith Andrews Brands Brentford's Trip to Brighton as 'Toughest Game of Our Season'

Keith Andrews has emphasised Brentford's need to bring their 'A game' in order to get a positive result away to high flying Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon. 

Fabian Hurzeler's Seagulls currently sit in third place in the Premier League after a superb start to the season and could move up to second with a win over Brentford after Manchester City's 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening. 

Having qualified for UEFA Conference League football last season ahead of Brentford on goal difference, Brighton have moved from strength to strength this campaign with a series of impressive results, including a 3-0 win over league leaders Arsenal, a 1-0 win away to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium and a memorable 5-0 win over rivals Crystal Palace. 

Regarding the challenge of facing Brighton, Andrews said: "This is our toughest game of our season. They're organised in every facet of the game. They’ve clearly got a really good spirit."

"They are playing with a lot of confidence so we’ll need to bring our A game on Sunday to get the result we want."

In the two sides fixtures against each other last season it was Brighton who came out on top in both, beating Brentford 2-1 at the American Express Stadium 12 months ago and winning 2-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium back in February. 

Whilst Brentford have had a positive start to the season themselves, losing just one game in the Premier League and beginning the weekend in sixth place, there will be few who disagree with Andrews' belief that their trip to the South Coast will be harder than any test they've faced so far, and it will take a top performance to overcome last season's troubles against Hurzeler's side. 

"We need to play well and look after the ball", Andrews said. "We’ll need to be smart about how we play the game and where we play the game. The players are already very aware of what Brighton will bring on Sunday. We’ve had a good week and are in a good place". 

In many ways the two clubs are similar to each other, sharing data driven approaches to recruitment largely akin to one another, with both having defied the odds over many seasons with modest budgets compared to some of the financial power of the clubs around them. 

Tactically on the pitch, whilst their overall styles of play differ to an extent, they are also rather alike in their constant adaptability and the variety of ways they can look to hurt different teams. 

In his time as Brentford head coach, Keith Andrews has openly embraced a high-octane, disruptive style of play centred around both managing and creating chaos on the pitch. 

Regarding his tactical approach to the game, Andrews was keen to stress how, whilst Brentford must be aware of how to manage Brighton's tactical tweaks, they also need to be focused on how they can hurt the opposition in return... 

"You have to be very understanding of what they [Brighton] can be capable of, what they're doing consistently, how they can tweak what they tweak, when they tweak it. You need to be adaptable to that."

"On the flip side of that, we're quite flexible and adaptable ourselves in terms of what we do and how we can do it and we feel we've got the tools to cause them problems, we've got the tools to cause any team problems but we'll have to play very well."

A win on Sunday could see the Bees rise as high as fourth, and whilst it is certain that an away trip to Brighton will be a hugely difficult test, there is no doubt that the West Londoners will hold the belief within their ranks that they are capable of picking up a result, but of course, it will have to be a very good performance on the day if Hurzeler's Seagulls are to be denied...