Roberto De Zerbi handed 80-year hurdle as Tottenham head to Brentford on opening day

Roberto De Zerbi and Tottenham have learned they will begin the Premier League season with a short trip across London to face Brentford.

The Lilywhites will want to start as they mean to go on as they look to return to the top half of the table.

Two seasons in a row of finishing 17th is way below the standards supporters have come to expect.

However, against the Bees, it may not be an easy battle to come away from the Gtech Community Stadium with all the spoils.

When Spurs line up to open their season, there will be plenty of history hiding behind this fixture.

And De Zerbi will have to achieve an 80-year first in order to bring the three points back to N17.

What is Tottenham's record away to Brentford?

Despite both sides hailing from London, fixtures between the two are not as common as you would expect.

In fact, in the entire history of either club, Tottenham have only faced Brentford away on eight occasions.

Interestingly, the first league meeting between Spurs and the Bees only arrived in the 2021-2022 season when Brentford were promoted.

However, with Tottenham set to face them for a ninth time away from home, De Zerbi may feel a little anxious about his chances.

That is because Tottenham have not won away to the Bees since their very first meeting back in 1946.

This means it has been an 80-year wait for the Lilywhite faithful to witness a win against their fellow London side.

Other than that win, Brentford have been on the winning side three times, with four draws taking up the rest of the results.

In the Premier League meetings alone, all four of those draws have arrived with two 0-0 results.

How do Tottenham fare on Premier League opening day

While the opponent is not ideal based on history, Tottenham generally seem to do well on the opening day of the season.

In the 10 most recent seasons, the North London club have a 60 per cent win rate.

Their full record stands at six wins, three draws and one loss.

That sole defeat did come in a home game against Everton in 2020-2021, so perhaps the opening game this season being away is a good omen.

Tottenham are undefeated in their last four opening day fixtures where they have started away from home.

For De Zerbi, this will also mark just his second-ever opening day game in the Premier League, but he did manage to win his first 4-1 against Luton Town.