The next Watkins/ Benrahma/ Maupay/Mbeumo/Toney/Wissa/Thiago ?
Feb 16, 2026
FA Cup: Macclesfield FC-Brentford
I am not going to this game, but I was at Macclesfield the last time the two clubs met, which was in League 2 in 2009, as I was leaving the ground that day after a 2-0 defeat if you had told me that just 17 years later that the Bees would already be planning for a 6th straight EPL season, I would have been laughing all the way home! But here we are! Brentford did win League 2 that season, three years later Macclesfield were relegated out of the Football League, were promoted back in 2018, but relegated again in the COVID shortened season of 2020 after being deducted 17 points from three separate cases, later that same year the club were wound up unable to pay their debts and reformed as Macclesfield FC (formerly Town).
The club joined the North West Counties Premier Division (Tier 9) , the fifth step of the National League system ahead of the 2021–22 season. Macclesfield recorded three promotions in the four subsequent seasons, winning the North West Counties Premier Division in 2022, the NPL Division One West in 2023, and the NPL Premier Division in 2025. The team also reached the semi-final of the FA Trophy in 2024. In 2026, they reached the fourth round of the FA Cup by becoming the first sixth-tier team to beat a top-tier team (Premier League side Crystal Palace, the reigning FA Cup holders).
They have done incredibly well to get to Tier 6 so quickly and the win over Palace was sensational, the biggest shock in the history of a competition which thrives on them, with 117 league places between the two clubs at that stage. There are 116 between Macclesfield and the Bees today and, as we know, lightning doesn't strike twice!
It is not totally unknown for a club at Tier 6 or below to reach the 5th round (today is R4), but the last three times it happened were in 1948/49 (Yeovil Town), 1977/78 (Blyth Spartans) and 2023/24 (Maidstone United) and we are not due another for 30 years or so!
Anyway, after facing Villa/Newcastle/Arsenal and earning 7 points, the Bees take on an old foe. Ahead of the 1-1 draw with the Gunners I wrote ....
I am not spending much time on Arsenal, they are the best team in the EPL and by some way, they have greatly increased options and it is no coincidence that they also now have a better bench than anyone else. But that is offset a little today by the Gunners having already played 10 games more than Brentford this season and an additional four since the New Year fixture.
The season is no less remarkable for the Bees, who are on course to better their highest ever EPL finish (9th) and points total (59), both achieved in 2022/23. This, having lost their two top goalscorers from last season (39 goals/13 assists), their captain and head coach and being "certain" to be relegated in July! Some reporters need to realise the season starts in August and ends in May!
I am not sure this is the best Brentford team in their five EFL seasons to date, but it is close, this group also has more strength in depth and have more and ever increasing self belief. Their confidence when they went down to 10 men at Villa Park and when Newcastle equalised late after a few big decisions went against them, never wavered for a second and they truly believe that they are a "very good" EPL side and that is the biggest difference this season. The substitutions made at SJP on Saturday were brave in the extreme, made quickly and were very innovative and Thomas Frank and early season Keith Andrews would not have shown such bravado and the head coach and staff are probably evolving quicker than the team.
But now they have to play Arsenal!
The Gtech is a tough place to come and that goes double under the lights when the stadium is usually "jumping" as was Griffin Park in the misty eyed past. The Bees have lost twice there this season, to a team who scored with both attempts on target they created and to Manchester City where Igor Thiago missed a 1 on 1 which would have salvaged a point and when, after KA changed things around, City had one off target attempt and an xG of 0.03 in 50+ minutes of football. My point being that with similar numbers/chances they would probably have avoided defeat in both.
The Manchester City win last night has also increased the pressure on Arsenal to respond and midweek results have opened up the opportunity for Brentford to move to within two points of a Champions League spot.
A really interesting game and a great pick for the sole Thursday TV game, but I am not sure that it is a fantastic betting opportunity. Having said that, Brentford do not really do draws ( 3 in 25 games, an EPL low) which helps, as does the fact that they have scored 33 goals in 15 home EPL games ( 2.2 pg) and I expect them to be brave again this evening.
Brentford should have won, they were the better team ( xG 1.5-0.6 and BC's 3-1) and all the confidence and self belief I touched upon above was on full show after they fell behind. Today is very different, but four of the Brentford squad have played low level EFL football and two , both of whom are likely to start, at a level even below that of Macclesfield, so no step into the unknown for them and Kevin O'Connor, who is an assistant coach to Keith Andrews and who has been at the club for 31 years (since he was 12yo) actually played in that 2-0 defeat, so he will be out for revenge!
Brentford will rotate quite heavily and will have one eye on the game with Brighton at the weekend, but see this very much as a tournament they can win
and will have a VERY strong bench just in case. Keith Andrews has promised we will see 18 yo striker Kaye Furo whom they signed from Club Brugges five weeks ago, he has made three EPL matchday squads but has yet to come off the bench. However, the word is that even the coaching staff have been surprised by how good he has looked and in a few highlights I saw from training, he looks a natural #9 ( see photo ).
Bees also expect huge things from 19 yo Romelle Donovan and after playing the last 15 minutes at Newcastle and all 90 in the previous round in the FA Cup (when he provided an assist) he will surely start. If watching the game tomorrow, they are the two major points of interest for the future and possibly the next two Brentford stars.
Macclesfield have an artificial pitch and a very small playing surface at 100m x 60m, average EPL pitch is 105m x 68m, which is 16% smaller in terms of square metres. The Bees have a 3G pitch at their Jersey Road and had the dimensions changed to mirror that of Moss Rose and trained on that for two days before making the journey north and have been as meticulous in their preparation for Macclesfield, as they were for Arsenal.
This fixture is all "we" have today and the Bees are rightly a strong favourite and have prepared well, but it also has interest for the future and gives us a chance to also see how Brentford set up for games and it is not always all about analytics. You are not going to be able to read about the sea change at the club in terms of self belief, Faro, Donovan and how the pitch has been set up at the training ground in build up, in any other betting preview and that is what clubgowi is all about and pretty much every email will have multiple things that we can refer back to and use again in the future.
Good luck!
We don't just sell football betting tips, as you can see there is an extensive analysis behind our asian handicap selections. Subscribing to our sports betting advice service need not break the bank. Learn more by visiting our subscriptions page.
Country:
Sport:
Competition:
Football Teams: