Brentford star Vitaly Janelt has labelled Tottenham’s Son Heung-min as his toughest opponent this season, while Newcastle win his award for the best stadium he’s visited.
Brentford returned to the top flight last season after beating Swansea in the play-off final last year and have enjoyed themselves, with a top ten finish within sight as the season enters its final day.
Thomas Frank’s side can look back on a series of impressive performances throughout the campaign that have got them to this point.
Sadly neither of those came against Tottenham, with a 2-0 defeat in December followed by a 0-0 draw back in April.
That defeat earlier this season saw Son on the scoresheet, with him an old foe for the Bees after he scored against them in the Carabao Cup semi-final in January 2021, and Janelt has admitted he is at the top of his list of Premier League opponents.
“I think very highly of Tottenham’s Heung-min Son,” he told SportBuzzer.
“The way he combines with Harry Kane is brutal. He has an incredible drive, is technically strong, one-on-one and on crosses, can shoot with his right and left foot. For me, he is the complete player.”
Like Tottenham, Newcastle proved an equally tough opponent for Brentford this season, with them only managing to take one point off of the Magpies this year.
That came in a thrilling 3-3 draw at St James Park back in November, a game that saw the result swing throughout the 90 minutes.
Brentford led that game on three separate occasions before being pegged back, with Allan Saint-Maximin’s 75th-minute strike ensuring a share of the points.
The atmosphere at St James Park that evening was electric, to say the least, and Janelt remembers it to this day.
“We can only fit 17,000 spectators, but the atmosphere is always great,” he added.
“Away from home, I liked Newcastle best. It’s a typical English stadium. The new owners had just arrived, so there was a lot of euphoria among the Newcastle fans anyway.
“Then the game ended 3:3. The atmosphere was outstanding.”
