Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Brentford boss Keith Andrews expects his side to face a real test when they go up against Hull City on Sunday, saying the Tigers have already shown they belong at Premier League level.
Andrews’ side were beaten 2-1 by Liverpool last Saturday, having led 1-0 before ultimately being pegged back and finishing the game with nine men.
Both Yehor Yarmolyuk and Vitaly Janelt were sent off and will now be suspended for the trip to Hull, with Brentford currently sat sixth in the Premier League table with 10 points.
Hull are only a point worse off in ninth place, having silenced many of their doubters since winning promotion via the Championship play-offs.
And Andrews has been impressed with how Sergej Jakirovic’s side have adapted to top-flight football, telling reporters on Thursday: “I expect a proper test; they have a way of playing that can be very testing.
“They have a belief that they can absolutely compete at this level. They’ve shown that they can, week in, week out.
“They’ve produced some really, really good performances, and they’ve been in every single game they’ve played in.”
Keith Andrews on Hull trip “A proper test. They’ve a belief they can absolutely compete at this level. They’ve produced some really good performances; they’ve been in every single game they’ve played and we’re at the end of October. That says everything about where they are” https://t.co/bivBrBQYjo
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) October 22, 2026
However, after starting the season with back-to-back wins, Hull have failed to taste victory in their last five league games (D3 L2), most recently going down 1-0 to Fulham last week.
They are the first team to win their first two games of the season, then none of their next five, since both Huddersfield Town and West Brom in 2017-18.
And centre-back Semi Ajayi says they need to treat last week’s defeat at Craven Cottage as a learning opportunity and move on quickly.
“It’s a learning curve for us,” Ajayi told the club’s website. “We were well below the standards we have shown previously, and we all know that.
“In this league, even if you’re only 5% down on your level, you’re going to get punished, as we saw against Fulham.
“We need to put that right quickly and be much better against Brentford next weekend.”
Only four players have had more shots from outside the box in the Premier League this season than Belloumi (10).
As a team, the Tigers rank third for their percentage of attempts coming from outside the box (44%, 33/75), so it may be up to him to provide a moment of magic.
Thiago has six goals in his last six Premier League appearances against newly promoted clubs.
And, in the last two seasons, only four players have more goals and assists combined in the Premier League than the Brazilian (23 goals, two assists).
This will be the first-ever top-flight meeting between Hull and Brentford, with the sides facing in each of the second, third and fourth tiers previously.
It will also be their first league meeting since February 2020, a 5-1 win for the Bees in the Championship at MKM Stadium.
Indeed, each of Brentford’s last three away league wins against Hull have been in different divisions – the third tier in 1995-96, the fourth tier in 1998-99 and the second in 2019-20.
Brentford have also never won an away Premier League match in Yorkshire in five attempts (D4 L1); their last away top-flight win there was back in May 1947, 2-1 at Leeds United.
Hull, meanwhile, are unbeaten at home this season (W1 D2). Across the last 11 seasons, only two newly promoted teams have remained unbeaten in their first four home games: Wolves in 2018-19 (four) and Sunderland in 2025-26 (first 12), both of whom finished seventh.
And though Brentford are slight favourites with the Opta supercomputer, it struggles to split the teams overall, and the Bees have already dropped 11 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season – the joint-second most after seven games of a season.
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