Talking Tactics | Brentford v Swansea City
Football stats experts WhoScored identify striker Rhian Brewster as a key man in Swansea City's Championship play-off semi-final second leg clash against Brentford at Griffin Park tonight (7.45pm).
It was an evening full of twists and turns, as is to be expected from any Championship match, but Swansea City got the job done on home turf last Sunday.
Andre Ayew may have seen a penalty saved by David Raya Martin midway through the second half, but made amends 10 minutes from time as he bagged a fine winner in the 1-0 victory.
However, the tie is only at half-time.
Swansea face another huge 90 minutes as they look to book a place at Wembley in the play-off final. Brentford, though, play their final ever match at Griffin Park before their stadium move this summer and will look to sign off with a win.
Either way, tonight's play-off second leg clash is huge and it'll take a monumental effort to break down a Bees outfit that has conceded the second fewest home goals (18) in the Championship this season.
That said, Swansea aren't to be underestimated away from home. A 4-1 win at Reading on the final day of the regular season meant only champions Leeds and second-placed West Brom (both 43) earned more away points than Steve Cooper's side (35) in England's second tier this term.
And Cooper has at his disposal a player who enjoys his away days more than anyone, particularly in 2020.
Rhian Brewster, who joined on loan from Liverpool in January, has made quite the impact in south Wales. Indeed, the 20-year-old has 10 league goals to his name on the back of his arrival from the Reds to help garner a WhoScored.com rating of 6.99, that the third best of all Swansea players in the Championship this season.
Of those 10 goals, eight have been netted away from home; no player has more away goals in the Championship this calendar year. This ruthlessness in front of goal on the road has seen Brewster develop a statistically-calculated WhoScored.com strength of 'finishing' and for good reason too, with eight goals in 11 away appearances a fine return from the frontman.
Indeed, he'll be Cooper's not-so-secret weapon in west London tonight as the Swans look to book their trip to Wembley.
Only Andre Ayew (7.28) has a better away WhoScored.com rating than Brewster (7.25) of all Swansea players in the Championship this season as Cooper's dynamic attacking duo look to pile further misery upon Brentford.
It certainly won't be plain sailing for Brewster and Swansea at Griffin Park tonight with the imperious Ethan Pinnock looking to keep the south Wales side's attack at bay this evening. The 27-year-old has enjoyed a fine debut campaign for the Bees on the back of his summer capture from Barnsley having yielded a WhoScored.com rating of 7.22 for Thomas Frank's side. Dominant in the air, Pinnock's return of 5.4 aerial duels won per game is among the top 15 players in the Championship this season to reinforce a WhoScored.com strength of 'aerial duels'.
Swansea's approach, though, means they look to keep the ball on the floor and utilise a statistically-calulated WhoScored.com strength of 'creating goalscoring chances'. If they can maximise this quality and provide the opportunities for Brewster, then WhoScored believe he'll add to his fine away record and fire Swansea to Wembley.
