View from our legends - Brentford

First up, Mark Falco, Micky Hazard and David Howells take a look at today's big kick-off as we take on Brentford in our 2026/27 Premier League opener at the Gtech (5.30pm).

Mark Falco

236 appearances, 89 goals - 1979-1986

Scored on opening day in 1981/82, 1984/85 and 1985/86

"I think De Zerbi's the key to it all, he's got all the players behind him. I'm very excited about the signings, a lot of quality players and now we can kick on again. Hopefully, we've got the right blend and I think De Zerbi will get the team working. The players believe in him, he believes in the players and they will be the ones to take us forward. So, I think we'll win at Brentford - but I always think Spurs will win! I'm confident with the signings, the shape of the team and how De Zerbi wants to play. Brentford is always tricky, good at home and you never quite know what you're going to get first game of the season, but we know they are tough and in a good way, that's good, because we'll have to step up and show how good we are - and I think we will."

Micky Hazard

190 appearances, 25 goals, 1980-1994

Scored on opening day, 1982/83

"I think we will win the game, but we need to prepare for a proper scrap,  but we need to assert our game onto them - do that and it’s a win. The key is to match Brentford's attitude, desire and work rate and our extra quality should see us home. Tempo is the real key, tempo of movement and tempo of the ball. We have the quality, we just need to execute the plan. I'm confident we can do that."

David Howells

335 appearances, 27 goals, 1986-1998

"I'm full of optimism, even more so because of our manager, in the way he's developing a squad, putting his own mark on it. I'm really, really impressed with the players who've come in and totally understand that players have to leave as well - sometimes the hardest bit is to get the right players to leave at the right price, so the club and the manager have done well - it's been a really, really busy summer, but a very positive one. I'm not alone amongst Spurs fans who are going into the season full of real optimism, realism as well, in that we've got a long way to improve - I'm sure we will. Looking at Brentford, I think it's going to be really tough. They have only really lost Jordan Henderson from last season, although he was very influential for them. They smashed Eintracht Frankfurt 7-0 in their final pre-season friendly. Now, I don't know what sort of game that was, what sort of team Frankfurt had out, but it's still a notable scalp. They'll be well organised. They've got a lot of quality, so it won't be easy. I'm expecting a very tight game. I don't think that we'll be able to field our strongest team, but I still think we'll have enough to get a result at Brentford. I've got a feeling that we might just edge it 2-1 and hopefully start off the season in winning ways."