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More than the midpoint of the season, The Bees are in a dream scenario.

With four wins in five games, and a Brazilian striker netting the goals, suddenly Bees fans are dreaming of thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A convincing 3-0 win over the Black Cats moved Keith Andrews' side into fifth in the Premier League – a position that was good enough to secure European football last term.

Solely leaders the Gunners have gathered more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There is a long way to go yet but Brentford are squarely in the race for European football.

No one was forecasting this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had departed for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club promoted but also established them in the elite division.

Club captain their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of 39 goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining United and Newcastle respectively.

Set-piece coach Keith Andrews was promoted to replace the Dane, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the summer signings.

A season of difficulty, possibly even relegation, was widely predicted. Yet here we are in the new year with Brentford in the top five.

So, how did they pull it off?

The Brazilian's Record-breaking Campaign

Brentford's decision not to sign another striker was partly down to timing, with one forward's move not going through until the final day of the window.

But they also were aware they had a £30 million striker already ready and waiting.

Igor Thiago joined from Belgium in the summer for a then-record fee, but was hindered by fitness issues in his first campaign, going goalless in his initial outings.

The 24-year-old has gone about making up for lost time this season, though, with his brace against the Wearside club taking him to sixteen league goals – the highest tally by a player from Brazil in a single English top-flight campaign.

Considering the fellow Brazilians who have come before him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with seventeen matches left to play.

"He has been a revelation," pundit an analyst said. "He's a physical specimen, fast, powerful, but more skilled than people think. Excellent with his feet, both feet, he can score off both. You can see he's full of confidence. His statistics are fantastic. He must be so pleased. That's a huge compliment to him."

That only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point shows the level he is playing at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so vital for Brentford.

His first goal against the Black Cats was his 7th opener of the season. Given how often we are told the significance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that first big chance cannot be overstated.

Before the game against their opponents, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shot accuracy rate than the striker's 59.1%.

He hits the target. Do that consistently and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the hardships he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to support his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of praise for the type of players they bring in and personalities," the manager said. "This is really notable. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to forge this path. He has worked for his journey and grafted. He has got real determination about his personality. He is improving his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Doubters Incorrect

Their star striker is the headline act but Brentford are not and have never been a one-man band.

While they had key individuals – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team more effective than the sum of their parts.

The fear was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

As a result, appointing Andrews, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year at the club was seen by those outside the club as a huge risk.

A maiden role is a challenge for anyone, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the jump from specialist coach to the top job.

But given that Ipswich boss one candidate was the only other option that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly confident they had the correct candidate.

So far, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at the club, it looks as if they were correct.

The new boss won just one of his first 5 league games in charge but big home victories against Manchester United, Liverpool and the Magpies have since occurred.

Wins that, following their brilliant recent form, could prove increasingly important in the race for European qualification.

"We are in fine fettle and playing really good. We are playing with bravery and belief in everything we do with or without the ball," he added. "We are happy with how we are going but we want to keep improving."

In a league where the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just eight points, they have no other option, because things could rapidly look very otherwise.

But, for now, The Bees are defying the predictions. And the longer that lasts, the closer to reality those aspirations of Europe will become.