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More than halfway through the campaign, The Bees find themselves in a dream scenario.

With four wins in five games, and a Brazilian striker scoring the goals, suddenly supporters are dreaming of thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

A comprehensive 3-0 win over Sunderland moved their manager's side into the fifth spot in the top flight – a place that was sufficient to secure European football last term.

Solely leaders 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 continental football.

No one was envisioning this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had left for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club promoted but also established them in the elite division.

Skipper Christian Norgaard left for the North London club and goal-scoring duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

Set-piece coach Keith Andrews was promoted to succeed Frank, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the off-season arrivals.

A year of struggle, possibly even relegation, was widely predicted. Yet here we are in January with the club in the top five.

So, how did they pull it off?

The Brazilian's Record-breaking Campaign

The club's decision not to sign another striker was partly down to circumstance, with one forward's move not going through until the final day of the window.

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

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in the summer for a then-record fee, but was hindered by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

Thiago has set about making up for lost time this season, though, with his brace against Sunderland taking him to 16 league goals – the highest tally by a player from Brazil in a single English top-flight campaign.

Considering the countrymen who have come before him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with 17 games remaining.

"He's been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He is a physical specimen, fast, powerful, but technically better than people think. Excellent with his feet, both feet, he can score off both. You can see he's full of confidence. His statistics are fantastic. He must be so pleased. That's a big compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point shows the level he is operating at.

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

His first goal against the Black Cats was his 7th 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 30 shots 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 earlier in life, where he labored in construction to support his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "This is really notable. He is a really unique person who has fitted into life very nicely. He has had to forge this path. He has worked for his journey and grafted. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Sceptics Wrong

Igor Thiago 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 collective quality of their parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with a blank managerial CV, and just a twelve months at the club was seen by those external observers as a huge risk.

A first managerial job is a challenge for anyone, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the jump from set-piece coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was the only other option that Brentford looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the correct candidate.

To date, as often seems to be the case with the key decision makers at the club, it looks as if they were spot on.

The new boss won just a single of his first 5 league games in charge but significant home victories against United, the Reds and the Magpies have since occurred.

Wins that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove increasingly important in the pursuit for European qualification.

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

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

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