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Over the midpoint of the campaign, The Bees are in dreamland.

With four wins in their last five outings, and a Brazilian striker banging in the goals, suddenly supporters are envisioning thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A comprehensive 3-0 win over the Black Cats moved their manager's side into the fifth spot in the top flight – a position that was good enough to secure Champions League football last season.

Solely table-toppers the Gunners have gathered more points over the past six games.

There is a long way to go yet but the West London outfit are firmly in the fight for European football.

Few was envisioning this last summer.

Thomas Frank had left for Spurs after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club to the Premier League but also cemented them in the elite division.

Skipper Christian Norgaard left for Arsenal and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

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

A year of difficulty, possibly even the drop, was forecast. Yet here we are in the new year with the club in the top five.

So, what is behind their success?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Campaign

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to circumstance, with Wissa's move not going through until deadline day.

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

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in July 2024 for a then club record fee, but was hindered by injury in his first campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

Thiago has gone about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his double against Sunderland taking him to 16 league goals – the most by a Brazilian in a single English top-flight campaign.

Given the countrymen who have preceded him, that is some accomplishment, especially with 17 games remaining.

"He has been a revelation," pundit an analyst said. "He's physically intimidating, fast, powerful, but technically better than people think. Excellent with his feet, both feet, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with 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 Europe's top five leagues to this point underscores the standard he is operating at.

And it is not just the volume but the crucial nature of the goals that have been so important for Brentford.

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

Prior to the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shooting accuracy than the striker's 59.1 percent.

He finds the target. Do that often enough and the goals will – and have – come.

Considering the hardships he had earlier in life, where he worked as a bricklayer to support his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for the type of players they bring in and personalities," the manager said. "This is really impressive. He is a really unique person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to earn this path. He has worked for his journey and toiled. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Doubters Wrong

Their star striker is the man of the moment but the team are not and have never been a single-player team.

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 Dane left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of their parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

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

A maiden role is a test for anyone, especially when it comes in the Premier League and having made the leap from specialist coach to the manager's office.

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 Brentford, it looks as if they were spot on.

Andrews won just one of his first 5 league games in charge but big home victories against Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle have followed.

Results that, following their excellent recent form, could prove increasingly important in the pursuit for European qualification.

"We're in good form and playing really good. We are playing with bravery and conviction 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 fourth and 15th are currently separated by just eight points, they have little choice, because things could rapidly look very otherwise.

But, for now, The Bees are defying the odds. And the longer that continues, the closer to fruition those dreams of Europe will become.