Brentford are currently 17th in the league which is a disappointing start the West London side.

They’ve picked up eight points from their opening eight games, scoring five (the lowest in the league) and conceding six (the third best defence in the league). Every season feels like Brentford underperform and are constantly on the verge of something special.

Despite a poor league position, Brentford have a strong squad and on paper they’re performing well statistically. Here are three reasons Brentford fans should be optimistic about an improvement in form…

1 Shot dominance

Total shots ratio (TSR) is a simple statistic that correlates well with league position. It shows the proportion of shots a team takes compared to the amount they concede. For example, a TSR of 55% would mean in an average game that team took 55% of the shots in the match.

Brentford have a TSR of 61% after eight games. This is the third-highest in the Championship, behind first-place Leeds and QPR, who are in great form. Brentford take the 9th most shots per game with 13.4 while conceding the second least shots in the league.

This shows that Brentford are creating more chances than the opposition and have shot dominance in their matches but results haven’t matched this.

2 Underperforming expected goals

Thomas Frank’s Brentford have been underwhelming in their attacking output, with the 2nd worst scoring rate this season. However, they’ve been unfortunate this season. They’ve actually had the 9th highest expected goals (xG) in the league with 10.32, but have only scored 5.

This suggests that Brentford have been good in attack but haven’t been clinical enough. Brentford will hope that this will regress and they’ll catch up with their expected performance and have a run of good form.

They also have the 9th lowest expected goals per shot, suggesting they struggle to create high-quality chances.

3 Progressive passing

Brentford have also have made the second most progressive passes per game this season in the Championship, behind leaders Leeds. Progressive passes is a pass that moves the ball considerably up the pitch with a few factors that decide whether it is, not just purely long balls.

It is a very good indicator for high potential young players and the best passers. For example, Xavi had some of the most impressive progressive passing numbers for a player. It indicates they progress the ball really well in the game and are playing good and attractive football.