EFL Cup · Round of 64

1:6

Demarai Gray 28'

HT 1:3

Callum Wilson 6'
Aaron Hickey 35'
Nathan Collins 40'
Mikkel Damsgaard 70'
Igor Thiago 73'
Nathan Collins 77'

Tue, 25 Aug 2026, 20:00 (UK) · St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, Birmingham

Brentford scored six away at Birmingham, with Nathan Collins netting twice and Jaidon Anthony providing three assists.

Player of the matchNathan Collins9.2Decisive moment35' Aaron Hickey+0.6

Birmingham 1-6 Brentford: Anthony's assists, Collins' brace

AI-written review based on match data · How we make it

Key numbers

xG 0.63 v 2.08, yet the scoreline was 1-6
13 v 2 shots from inside the box
Anthony: 3 assists, 4 key passes (most in the match)

Birmingham levelled; Brentford pulled clear

Birmingham fell behind early but equalised through Demarai Gray in the 28th minute. Brentford responded with goals in the 35th and 40th minutes to lead 3-1 at the break, then added three more after it. It finished 1-6 at St. Andrew's in the EFL Cup Round of 64, a 6-1 away win for the visitors.

Hickey's goal answered the equaliser at once

Aaron Hickey's strike in the 35th minute was worth +0.6 FN xPts, more than any other goal on the night, and it cancelled out the lift Birmingham had taken from Gray's equaliser. Collins added a third in the 40th minute before half-time. Brentford spent about 77 minutes in front, while Birmingham were level for about 13.

Six goals from a modest chance count

Brentford had far more shots from inside the box than Birmingham, yet their six goals beat their xG by 3.92. Finishing, more than the quality of each chance, appears to have stretched the scoreline. Most of Birmingham's eight shots came from outside the box.

Anthony supplied three of the goals

Jaidon Anthony registered three assists, setting up the goals in the 40th, 70th and 73rd minutes, and led all players with four key passes. Substitute Igor Thiago scored in the 73rd minute, while Mamadou Sangare, also off the bench, created Collins' second in the 77th. For Birmingham, Seung Ho Paik laid on Gray's goal.

Player of the match

Nathan Collins 9.2Dominant

Two goals, three shots on target and 12 of 18 duels won earned him the highest FN Score.

Collins' FN Score was built mainly on attack: two goals from four shots, three of them on target. The 40th-minute goal made it 1-3 before the break and the 77th-minute one made it 1-6. He also won 12 of 18 duels and completed 69 of 85 passes, so defending and build-up added points too.

Game state

0-11-11-21-31-41-51-6

Birmingham ahead 0 min · level 13 min · Brentford ahead 77 min

Mamadou Sangare — off the bench 45 min · 0G 1A
Igor Thiago — off the bench 28 min · 1G 0A

FN xPts — what each moment was worth

How much each moment changed that team's expected points (win 3, draw 1). A goal's value is credited 70% to the scorer and 30% to the assist.

6' Callum Wilson Goal · scorer +0.3 · assist Yehor Yarmoliuk +0.1 +0.4

28' Demarai Gray Goal · scorer +0.3 · assist Seung Ho Paik +0.1 +0.4

35' Aaron Hickey Goal +0.6

40' Nathan Collins Goal · assist Jaidon Anthony +0.2

70' Mikkel Damsgaard Goal · assist Jaidon Anthony 0.0

73' Igor Thiago Goal · assist Jaidon Anthony 0.0

77' Nathan Collins Goal · assist Mamadou Sangare 0.0

Knockout ties have no league points, so moments are weighed on a win-3/draw-1 scale only.

Pre-match expectation for Birmingham is an estimate: no top-five-league record, so it uses the published starting values.

How FN Score and FN xPts work →

Match stats

BirminghamBrentford

32%Possession68%

0.63Expected goals (xG)2.08

0.08xG per shot0.12

8Shots18

2Shots on target8

25%Shots on target %44%

2Shots in box13

238Passes520

65%Pass accuracy84%

4Corners6

2Saves1

9Fouls12

2Yellow cards1

0Offsides1

Timeline

6' Goal Callum Wilson competition goal #1 assist Yehor Yarmoliuk
26' Yellow Jannik Schuster
28' Goal Demarai Gray assist Seung Ho Paik
35' Goal Aaron Hickey competition goal #1
37' Yellow Jhon Solís
40' Goal Nathan Collins competition goal #1 assist Jaidon Anthony
46' Sub Dango Ouattara → Kevin Schade
48' Sub Yehor Yarmoliuk → Mamadou Sangare
55' Yellow Bright Osayi-Samuel
61' Sub Kristoffer Lund → Alex Cochrane
61' Sub Luis Vázquez → August Priske
61' Sub Kanya Fujimoto → Jay Stansfield
62' Sub Callum Wilson → Igor Thiago
70' Goal Mikkel Damsgaard competition goal #1 assist Jaidon Anthony
71' Sub Vitaly Janelt → Michael Kayode
71' Sub Rico Henry → Keane Lewis-Potter
73' Goal Igor Thiago competition goal #1 assist Jaidon Anthony
75' Sub Demarai Gray → Phil Neumann
77' Goal Nathan Collins competition goal #2 assist Mamadou Sangare
83' Sub Seung Ho Paik → Tomoki Iwata

Category leaders

Key passesJaidon Anthony4
Duels wonNathan Collins12/18
DribblesJaidon Anthony3/5
Defensive actionsChristoph Klarer8
ShotsDemarai Gray4 (on target 2)
Fouls wonCarlos Vicente4

#Brentford#Birmingham#EFL Cup#Nathan Collins#Jaidon Anthony#FN Score

This review was written by AI from match data (API-Football). FN Score and FN xPts are calculated by Fulltime Note using a published formula.

Line-ups

Brentford 4-2-3-1 · Manager Keith Andrews

12 Valdimarsson6.3

2 Hickey7.6⚽

44 Schuster6.6

22 Collins9.2⚽×2

3 Henry5.9▼71'

6 Yarmoliuk7.5▼48'

27 Janelt6.8▼71'

11 Ouattara6.1▼46'

24 Damsgaard8.3⚽

19 Anthony9.0

13 Wilson7.0⚽▼62'

21 Allsop4.9

26 Osayi-Samuel5.5

23 Fry5.6

4 Klarer6.3

25 Lund5.5▼61'

14 Solís5.3

8 Paik6.9▼83'

7 Vicente6.3

27 Fujimoto5.9▼61'

10 Gray7.4⚽▼75'

32 Vázquez5.7▼61'

Birmingham 4-2-3-1 · Manager Chris Davies

Show bench

Birmingham

1James Beadle
5Phil Neumann▲75'5.4
20Alex Cochrane▲61'6.0
2Ethan Laird
24Tomoki Iwata▲83'
9August Priske▲61'5.5
33Marvin Ducksch
16Patrick Roberts
28Jay Stansfield▲61'5.4

Brentford

1Caoimhin Kelleher
20Kristoffer Ajer
33Michael Kayode▲71'6.2
8Mathias Jensen
23Keane Lewis-Potter▲71'6.3
7Kevin Schade▲46'6.0
14Fabio Carvalho
18Mamadou Sangare▲48'7.6
9Igor Thiago▲62'7.1⚽

FN Score — top 3

9.2Dominant Nathan CollinsBrentford

Attack+2.94

Build-up+0.56

Defence+0.77

Discipline+0.07

Result+0.12

9.0Dominant Jaidon AnthonyBrentford

Attack+3.14

Build-up+0.22

Defence+0.34

Result+0.20

8.3Dominant Mikkel DamsgaardBrentford

Attack+1.68

Build-up+0.56

Defence+0.37

Discipline-0.10

Result+0.20

How FN Score and FN xPts work →

Lowest FN Scores

4.9Below par Ryan AllsopBirmingham

Build-up-0.14

Keeping-0.40

Result-0.20

Ryan Allsop made two saves and conceded six, and only 18 of his 43 passes were accurate, leaving him little to offset the goals against.

5.3Below par Jhon SolísBirmingham

Attack+0.18

Build-up+0.22

Defence-0.16

Discipline-0.30

Result-0.20

Jhon Solís was booked in the 37th minute, won one of eight duels and was dribbled past three times. His one key pass did not make up the lost ground.

5.5Below par Kristoffer LundBirmingham

Attack+0.21

Build-up+0.09

Defence+0.28

Result-0.68

Kristoffer Lund won four of 11 duels in 61 minutes and was dribbled past three times, while the defeat also weighed on his FN Score.

Player ratings

Birmingham

Player	Min	G	A	FN	Provider
Demarai Gray	75'	1		7.4	7.2
Seung Ho Paik	83'		1	6.9	6.9
Carlos Vicente	90'			6.3	5.9
Christoph Klarer	90'			6.3	5.6
Alex Cochrane Sub	29'			6.0	6.2
Kanya Fujimoto	61'			5.9	6.5
Luis Vázquez	61'			5.7	6.3
Dael Fry	90'			5.6	5.9
August Priske Sub	29'			5.5	6.5
Kristoffer Lund	61'			5.5	5.9
Bright Osayi-Samuel	90'			5.5	5.5
Jay Stansfield Sub	29'			5.4	6.2
Phil Neumann Sub	15'			5.4	6.2
Jhon Solís	90'			5.3	5.6
Ryan Allsop	90'			4.9	5.9
Tomoki Iwata Sub	8'			–	6.6

Brentford

Player	Min	G	A	FN	Provider
Nathan Collins	90'	2		9.2	9.7
Jaidon Anthony	90'		3	9.0	8.3
Mikkel Damsgaard	90'	1		8.3	8.2
Aaron Hickey	90'	1		7.6	7.5
Mamadou Sangare Sub	45'		1	7.6	7.5
Yehor Yarmoliuk	45'		1	7.5	6.9
Igor Thiago Sub	28'	1		7.1	7.0
Callum Wilson	62'	1		7.0	7.3
Vitaly Janelt	71'			6.8	7.3
Jannik Schuster	90'			6.6	6.6
Hákon Rafn Valdimarsson	90'			6.3	6.5
Keane Lewis-Potter Sub	19'			6.3	6.3
Michael Kayode Sub	19'			6.2	6.9
Dango Ouattara	45'			6.1	6.3
Kevin Schade Sub	45'			6.0	6.5
Rico Henry	71'			5.9	6.2