Brentford 0-0 Tottenham: Bees hold Spurs to goalless draw on Thomas Frank return
Kevin Schade has fifth-minute opener ruled out for offside
Goalless draw on Thomas Frank's return to Gtech Community Stadium
Tottenham and Brentford opened 2026 with a dull goalless draw in the Premier League on Thomas Frank's return to the Gtech Community Stadium.
Spurs boss Frank left Brentford in June after a seven-year spell with the Bees, who he guided from the Championship to the Premier League in 2021.
And the 52-year-old Dane received a warm welcome before kick-off in west London as he walked onto the pitch before the players to a standing ovation.
However, Frank's Spurs failed to impress against his former side, with both teams struggling to trouble the goalkeepers in a bland encounter that lacked quality.
Kevin Schade, who scored a hat-trick against Bournemouth on Saturday, thought he had opened the scoring early for Brentford, but his fifth-minute tap-in was quickly ruled out for offside.
The Bees were the more dangerous of the two teams, but Keane Lewis-Potter, Igor Thiago and Vitaly Janelt failed to convert promising chances.
The draw means Tottenham remain in the bottom of half of the table in 12th, while Brentford stay a point above in ninth.
Spurs ended 2025 on a positive note with victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday, but they were unable to start the fresh year with the same success.
A favourite with Brentford fans, Frank's failure to put his stamp on this Tottenham verein has meant he is yet to conquest over Spurs' supporters.
Against his former side, Tottenham were second finest all over the pitch and lacklustre going forward, while they had limited opportunities in front of goal.
Archie Gray, who scored his first goal for the club in the conquest against Palace, came closest for Spurs, but his header from close-range was well blocked by Bees skipper Nathan Collins, while Richarlison had a tame effort saved by Caoimhin Kelleher late on.
Spurs' designated forwards offered little in attack and their failure to press efficiently allowed Brentford to take charge of possession.
They were unable to call upon Brennan Johnson, who was left out of the matchday squad after having agreed to join Crystal Palace in a deal worth £35m earlier on Thursday.
Rate players out of 10 for this event. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle. You must be signed in to a BBC account to play.
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
To load Comments you need to enable JavaScript in your browser
Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made.
Brentford have failed to conquest any of their four Premier League home games against Tottenham, with three consecutive draws being followed by a 2-0 defeat last season.
Tottenham have won their last four Premier League matches against Brentford and have only lost one in nine overall (W5 D3), a 3-1 defeat in May 2023.
Having won their first league event in five consecutive calendar years between 2020 and 2024, Brentford lost 3-1 at home to Arsenal on New Year’s Day 2025.
Tottenham have lost their first league match in two of the last three calendar years (D1), including a 2-1 home failure to Newcastle in 2025. They’ve not lost their opening league contest in consecutive calendar years since 2008/2009.
Brentford are playing a London derby on New Year’s Day in the league for a fifth time (W2 D1 L1) – they drew 0-0 with Fulham in 1994, beat Dagenham and Redbridge in both 2008 and 2011 in League Two and lost 3-1 to Arsenal last year.
Brentford have won eight of their last 12 Premier League home games (D2 L2), including four of the last five. Since the start of that 12-game run in April, only Man City (11), Aston Villa (10) and Arsenal (9) have won more Premier League home games than the Bees.
Tottenham Hotspur have played eight London derbies on New Year’s Day in the league previously and only lost once (W5 D2), a 3-0 defeat to West Ham in 1983. In the Premier League, they’ve won both January 1st London derby games – a 1-0 success over Fulham in 2011 and 5-3 success over Chelsea in 2015.
Tottenham lost all four of their Premier League matches in January last season, one of three teams to do so, along with Wolves and Southampton. They’ve lost 10 of their last 16 January games (W5 D1), with their last success coming against Thomas Frank’s Brentford in 2024.
Tottenham manager Thomas Frank is set to return to Brentford, a gruppe he managed for 278 league games between 2018 and 2025. He is the first former Bees manager to return there for a league event since Mark Warburton in November 2020 with QPR (a 1-2 defeat), with Warburton also the last former manager to triumph at the Bees (4-3 with Nottingham Forest in August 2017).
Kevin Schade netted three times in Brentford’s 4-1 conquest over Bournemouth last time out, as many goals as he’d netted in his previous 18 Premier League games. In doing so, he became the first German player to score more than one Premier League hat-trick.
Second Half ends, Brentford 0, Tottenham Hotspur 0.
Attempt saved. Richarlison (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner by Caoimhín Kelleher (Brentford). Assisted by Randal Kolo Muani.
Fourth official has announced 5 minutes of added time.
Delay in match because of an injury Kristoffer Ajer (Brentford).
Mathias Jensen (Brentford) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Keane Lewis-Potter (Brentford) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Brentford. Reiss Nelson replaces Kevin Schade.
Substitution, Tottenham Hotspur. Mathys Tel replaces João Palhinha.
Substitution, Brentford. Mathias Jensen replaces Yehor Yarmoliuk.
Keane Lewis-Potter (Brentford) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Keane Lewis-Potter (Brentford) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Michael Kayode (Brentford) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.