Kevin Schade has started the new Premier League season with three goals in five games, but the change in his Brentford performances goes beyond the scoring numbers.
Kevin Schade has never been difficult to notice.
The pace makes sure of that. Give him enough space to attack and he can turn a fairly harmless Brentford move into something dangerous very quickly. That has been true for most of his time at the club. The less certain part has often been what happens next.
Five games into this season, the answer looks rather different.
Schade already has three Premier League goals after scoring eight across 35 appearances last year. His scoring rate has risen from 0.24 goals per 90 to 0.55, but there has not been anything like the same increase in the quality of chances falling his way. His non-penalty expected goals have moved from 0.30 per 90 to 0.34.
The differences elsewhere are more noticeable.
Schade is taking 1.84 shots per 90 compared with 1.44 last season and getting 1.10 of them on target, up from 0.63. His touches in the opposition penalty area have also increased from 3.39 to 4.41 per 90. Ten shots have produced three goals so far, with six of those attempts testing the goalkeeper. Last season, he hit the target with 21 of his 48 shots.
There is a five-game sample against an entire season in those numbers, so they need treating accordingly. Schade is currently converting 30 per cent of his shots after finishing last season at 16.67 per cent. Nobody can sensibly assume the first figure will hold for another seven months, it would be quite the season if it did...
But what Brentford can take from the start is how he has scored the goals.
The first at Leeds was not simply a case of Schade running away from somebody. Keane Lewis-Potter delivered towards the near post and Schade improvised, turning the ball into the far corner with a flick which was later shortlisted for the Premier League’s August Goal of the Month award.
His two at Bournemouth asked for something different again.
Yehor Yarmoliuk supplied the first, with Schade moving into space in the penalty area and heading the cross in off the post. Brentford were behind when the second arrived. A mistake in Bournemouth’s defence left Schade with the ball and he lifted his finish over Đorđe Petrović to earn a 2-2 draw.
Three goals, three fairly different finishes.
Schade explained the first Bournemouth goal afterwards without dressing it up. Brentford had worked on finding those areas during the week and, as he put it: “I just put myself in there, I was free, and then I concentrated on finishing it.”
That is a useful way of looking at his early season.
The Bees have not suddenly removed the parts of Schade’s game that were already effective. They still have a forward whose speed gives them an obvious option when space appears, and his ability in transition remains part of why Keith Andrews values him. Andrews also specifically mentioned Schade’s defensive work after the Bournemouth draw, saying he trusted him when he had to track runners.
The change has been closer to goal.
Last season was hardly a failure. Eight league goals and three assists is a decent return, particularly from a player who had already scored 11 Premier League goals the season before. There was still room for more, though. Schade’s eight goals in 2025/26 came from 9.8 non-penalty expected goals, while his 48 shots produced those eight finishes.
There were games when the threat did not become enough. So far he is getting slightly more shooting volume, considerably more efforts on target and more touches inside the opposition box. None of those changes on their own are enormous. Put together, they offer a better explanation for his start than simply saying Schade has become more clinical.
There are still parts of his attacking output which look almost identical.
His expected assists remain at 0.14 per 90, exactly where they finished last season. Although his no recorded assists this season perhaps slightly unjust considering how he has provided moving forwards.
Andrews was already talking about Schade’s form before the Bournemouth brace, describing him as playing his best football since he had taken charge. Afterwards, the Brentford head coach went further, saying Schade had returned for pre-season with a different focus and had “taken his game to a new level” in the final third.
The Premier League has now recognised the same run of form.
Schade was named on the eight-player shortlist for September’s Player of the Month award after scoring twice in three appearances during an unbeaten month for the Bees. He also played a part in two of the goals in the 3-0 win over Chelsea, having his shot saved before Igor Thiago scored the rebound and later sending the ball across the area before Fábio Carvalho completed the scoring.
It is deserved recognition for the start rather than proof that anything has permanently changed.
Five league games remain five league games. Schade’s current conversion rate could fall considerably and his scoring numbers would still be capable of improving on last season if some of the other trends survive.
He is getting into the opposition box more often. He is shooting more. More of those shots are reaching the goalkeeper. And when chances have arrived, Schade has so far found several different ways of finishing them.
Brentford already knew how quickly he could get there at speed. The encouraging part of the first five games is what Schade has been doing when he arrives. Let's he can continue it on his return from the International Break.
