London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford are braced for a Boxing Day duel as the Premier League resumes.
The winter club break came at a terrible time for the Bees after they beat defending Premier League champions Manchester City, hoping to use that result as a springboard for the second half of the season. Tottenham Hotspur has a chance to close out 2022 with a leap to second in the Premier League if it can beat Brentford away in the early Boxing Day kickoff. How to Watch Brentford vs.
Happy Boxing Day, everyone! We're back in action in the English Premier League after long layoff thanks to the World Cup.
- Finally, while we don’t have a rule against profanity, please try and keep the naughty words in check. - Along those lines, outright abuse of players or match officials is also not allowed. Wipe your feet, mind the gap, and be sure to check out the other pages at this outstanding site. The match thread rules are the same as always. Ivan Perisic is back and should be available as well. Normally I would have a half-decent preview of what to expect in this match and who to watch, but truth be told the holidays have kept my focus and I have a slight clue as to who is available and who isn’t.
Minute-by-minute report: Join Rob Smyth for updates as the two London clubs resume their season.
[Brentford](https://www.theguardian.com/football/brentford), is chatting to the Amazon Prime team. In Qatar he was superb, the best centre forward in the tournament in ma opinion, but all anyone will remember is the shocking moment when he launched his second penalty over the bar. Both were the subject of unwelcome headlines during the World Cup: Toney for allegedly having 262 flutters too many, Kane for missing a late penalty in England’s quarter-final defeat to France. In fact, these teams finished part one of the 2022-23 season with memorable victories: Brentford won 2-1 at Manchester City, and Spurs thrice came from behind to beat Leeds 4-3. Harry Kane and Ivan Perisic are among the World Cup players who start for Spurs. Maybe the 2022 is the best - but I think 1966 is in there, along with 1954 if you like.” You can have a good tournament – he played really well – but at the same time he missed an important penalty. It’s important now to move on and focus on Tottenham. This is a really good opportunity for Spurs. No depression for Harry Kane, he has already left that penalty miss in the past.” “Faded rugby lines never help, but has the feel of a ground that’s been cut with a pair of scissors.” Forster made a smart reaction save but Janelt gobbled up the rebound from six yards.
LIVE: Follow all the action right here as Antonio Conte's Tottenham side return to Premier League action with a tricky game against Brentford on the agenda.
In goal, Fraser Forster makes his first Premier League appearance in a Tottenham shirt with birthday boy Hugo Lloris on the bench. The problem is at the other end of the pitch the Tottenham defence continue to look shaky and the team is missing Rodrigo Bentancur's industrious presence in the centre of the pitch. Emerson Royal is on the bench and Djed Spence, who has recovered from his recent fever, misses out on the squad but has travelled with Alfie Devine and Brandon Austin as players available in case of illness or injury. Japhet Tanganga's inclusion is a big chance for him, coming in ahead of Davinson Sanchez, with Ben Davies still working his way back to full fitness after his World Cup injury. Despite injuries up front for Richarlison and Lucas Moura, Conte can play his big guns in Son Heung-min, Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski. It looked to be curling towards goal but was headed over by the wall. Dier makes a mess of a clearance and it goes behind for a corner. Conte said in the week that he hopes Tananga is finally over his injury woes and this is a good chance for him to show that he can get forward to support Doherty as well as Cristian Romero normally can. It's a Tottenham team that bears the aftermath of a mixed week with players returning from the World Cup at different times and illness in the camp for some with stomach problems. Calls for a foul on Kane in the box by the Spurs players as he's grappled to the floor from a Perisic cross but nothing given by the officials or VAR. Level.— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) [Antonio Conte](https://www.football.london/all-about/antonio-conte) and his [Spurs](https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/) team travel across the capital to take on the Bees as the Premier League gets underway once again.
TOTTENHAM have suffered a nightmare start in their first Premier League game back against Brentford.Vitaly Janelt put the Bees AHEAD after stand-in go.
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Harry Kane plays for the first time since England's World Cup heartbreak as Spurs travel to west London to take on Brentford.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, one of five Tottenham starters who featured at the World Cup, then levelled with a calm finish and Kane almost won it with a header against the crossbar. Tottenham are in fourth place with 30 points while Brentford are ninth ...
[Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/159543/Pierre-Emile-Hojbjerg), one of five Tottenham starters who featured at the World Cup, levelled with a calm finish and Kane almost won it with a header against the crossbar. [Eric Dier](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/155532/Eric-Dier) with a sliced clearance, it appeared Brentford were in complete control but Tottenham suddenly flicked the switch. [Clement Lenglet](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/193917/Clément-Lenglet)'s cross and plant a header past [David Raya](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/196176/David-Raya). [Bryan Mbeumo](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/271170/Bryan-Mbeumo)'s deep cross was met on the volley by [Mathias Jensen](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/227472/Mathias-Jensen) and the ball was only half stopped by Spurs keeper [Fraser Forster](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/93193/Fraser-Forster), in for the rested France keeper [Hugo Lloris](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/43372/Hugo-Lloris), before dropping for Janelt to convert from close range. [Vitaly Janelt](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/225564/Vitaly-Janelt) and [Ivan Toney](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/180639/Ivan-Toney)'s close-range strike shortly after the interval put Brentford 2-0 up as Spurs struggled to deal with their hosts. [Harry Kane](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/142200/Harry-Kane) shook off his World Cup disappointment to spark a [Tottenham Hotspur](/soccer/team?id=367) revival in an entertaining 2-2 draw at [Brentford](/soccer/team?id=337) on Monday as the Premier League roared back to life.