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Over the midpoint of the season, Brentford find themselves in dreamland.

With victories in five games, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly Bees fans find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

A emphatic three-nil win over Sunderland moved their manager's side into fifth in the top flight – a place that was sufficient to secure Champions League football last season.

Only table-toppers the Gunners have accumulated more points over the past six games.

There's a significant distance to go yet but the West London outfit are firmly in the fight for European football.

No one was forecasting this last summer.

The former head coach had departed for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club to the Premier League but also cemented them in the elite division.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for Arsenal and goal-scoring duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of 39 goals in 2024-25 – were also sold, joining United and Newcastle United respectively.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was promoted to replace the Dane, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the summer signings.

A season of struggle, possibly even the drop, was forecast. Yet here we are in the new year with the club in the upper echelons.

So, how did they pull it off?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Season

The club's decision not to bring in 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 were aware they had a £30 million striker already chomping at the bit.

Igor Thiago joined from Club Brugge in July 2024 for a then club record fee, but was plagued by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

The 24-year-old has set about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his brace against Sunderland taking him to sixteen league goals – the most by a player from Brazil in a single English top-flight campaign.

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

"He has been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder an analyst said. "He is a physical specimen, fast, powerful, but technically better than people think. Excellent with his feet, both feet, he can score with both. You can see he's full of confidence. These numbers are incredible. 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 highlights the standard he is operating at.

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

His first goal against the Black Cats was his seventh first goal of a game of the season. Given how often we are told the importance of the first goal in a game, having someone you can rely on to take that early opportunity cannot be underestimated.

Before the game against their opponents, no player to have attempted at least 30 shots this season has a better shooting accuracy than Igor Thiago's 59.1%.

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

Considering the struggles he had earlier in life, where he labored in construction to support his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that pressure 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," Andrews said. "It 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 earned his journey and toiled. He has got real determination about his personality. He is improving his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Doubters Wrong

Igor Thiago is the headline act but Brentford are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had key individuals – a host of talent – 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 stay up.

Consequently, 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 maiden role is a test for anyone, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the leap from set-piece coach to the top job.

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

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

The new boss won just one of his first five 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 are in fine fettle and playing really good. We are playing with courage and conviction in everything we do with and without the ball," he added. "We are happy with how we are going but we want to keep pushing."

In a league where fourth and 15th are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have little choice, because things could quickly look very otherwise.

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