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Over the midpoint of the campaign, Brentford are in a dream scenario.

With four wins in five games, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly supporters are dreaming of thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A comprehensive three-nil win over Sunderland moved Keith Andrews' side into fifth in the top flight – a place that was good enough to secure Champions League football last term.

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

There's a long way to go yet but the West London outfit are squarely in the battle for European football.

No one was envisioning this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had departed for Spurs after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club to the Premier League but also cemented them in the top flight.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for Arsenal and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of 39 goals in the previous campaign – were also sold, joining United and Newcastle United respectively.

Set-piece coach Keith Andrews was promoted to succeed the Dane, while there was no striker among the summer signings.

A season of difficulty, possibly even relegation, was widely predicted. But here we are in the new year with Brentford in the upper echelons.

So, what is behind their success?

Igor Thiago's Historic Campaign

Brentford's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to timing, with one forward's move not being finalized until the final day of the window.

But they also were aware they had a £30 million striker already waiting to go.

Igor Thiago joined from Belgium in the summer for a then-record fee, but was plagued by injury in his first campaign, going without a goal in eight appearances.

Thiago has set about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his brace against the Wearside club taking him to sixteen league goals – the highest tally by a Brazilian in a single English top-flight campaign.

Considering the countrymen who have come before him, that is some accomplishment, especially with 17 games left to play.

"He has been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He is physically intimidating, quick, powerful, but more skilled than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's full of confidence. These numbers are incredible. He must be so pleased. That's a big 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 shows the level he is playing at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so important 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 overstated.

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 percent.

He hits 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 provide for his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of praise for the type of players they bring in and personalities," the manager said. "It is really impressive. He is a really special person who has adapted to life very nicely. He has had to earn this path. He has earned his journey and toiled. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his skill set constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a largely complete centre-forward."

Andrews 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 – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under Frank, they were always seen as a team more effective than the sum of their parts.

The concern was that once the Dane left, that may not be the case, and that the collective quality of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

As a result, appointing Andrews, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year at the club was seen by those outside the club as a huge risk.

A first managerial job is a challenge for anyone, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the leap from specialist coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich Town manager one candidate was the only other option that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly confident they had the correct candidate.

So far, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at Brentford, it looks as if they were spot on.

The new boss won just a single of his first five league games in charge but big home victories against United, the Reds and the Magpies have since occurred.

Results that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove increasingly important in the pursuit for Europe.

"We are in fine fettle and playing really well. 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 no other option, because things could quickly look very different.

But, for now, Brentford are beating the odds. And the longer that continues, the closer to reality those aspirations of Europe will become.