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Over the midpoint of the campaign, Brentford are in fantasy land.

With victories in their last five outings, and a Brazilian striker scoring the goals, suddenly supporters are envisioning thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

A emphatic 3-0 win over Sunderland moved Keith Andrews' side into the fifth spot in the Premier League – a position that was sufficient to secure Champions League football last term.

Only leaders the Gunners have gathered more points over the past half-dozen matches.

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

No one was predicting this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had departed for Spurs after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club promoted but also established them in the elite division.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and goal-scoring duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of 39 goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

Set-piece coach Andrews was elevated to replace the Dane, while there was no striker among the off-season arrivals.

A year of struggle, possibly even the drop, was forecast. But here we are in January 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 in part down to circumstance, with one forward's move not being finalized until deadline day.

But they also knew they had a £30 million striker already chomping at the bit.

Igor Thiago joined from Belgium in the summer for a then club record fee, but was hindered by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going without a goal in eight appearances.

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

Given the fellow Brazilians who have come before him, that is some accomplishment, especially with 17 games remaining.

"He has been a revelation," former Liverpool midfielder an analyst said. "He's a physical specimen, fast, strong, but more skilled than people think. Excellent with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. These numbers are fantastic. He must be so proud. That's a big compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of Europe's top five leagues to this point highlights the level he is playing at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so important for Brentford.

His opener against the opposition was his seventh first goal of a game of the season. Considering how often we are told the significance of the first goal in a game, having someone you can rely on to take that early opportunity cannot be overstated.

Before the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shooting accuracy than Igor Thiago's 59.1%.

He hits the target. Achieve that consistently and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the struggles he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to provide for his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that pressure on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of praise for the kind of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "This is really impressive. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very nicely. 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 improving his abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a largely complete centre-forward."

The Manager Showing Doubters Wrong

Their star striker is the headline act but Brentford are not and have never been a one-man band.

While they had star players – a host of talent – under Frank, they were always seen as a team more effective than the individual components.

The fear was that once the Dane left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

Consequently, appointing Andrews, with no previous managerial experience, and just a twelve months at the club was seen by those outside the club as a gamble.

A maiden role is a challenge for anyone, especially when it comes in the world's toughest 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 alternative that Brentford 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 the club, it looks as if they were correct.

The new boss won just a single of his first five league games in charge but big home victories against United, the Reds and Newcastle have since occurred.

Results that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove increasingly important in the pursuit for Europe.

"We're in good form and playing really good. We are playing with courage and conviction in everything we do with or without the ball," Andrews added. "We're happy with how we are going but we want to keep improving."

In a league where the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have little choice, because things could rapidly look very different.

But, for now, The Bees are defying the odds. And the longer that lasts, the closer to reality those aspirations of the continent will become.