Stats which show why Brentford will remain a threat with or without Ivan Toney

Ivan Toney's return to training has sparked interest in the striker's future ahead of his return to football in January.

Brentford will want to keep their Premier League record scorer, who is among the most effective finishers in the division. Were he to depart for a suitable fee, however, it might not be as debilitating to the club as it would seem.

Toney has scored 32 Premier League goals for Brentford since their promotion, almost double as many as anyone else. Those 32 goals account for 28% of his club's overall return - Harry Kane (31%) is the only player with a higher percentage for an ever-present club in that time.

Clearly Brentford have relied heavily upon Toney's goals. Just four players have scored more since their promotion and his shot conversion ranks among the best in the division since the start of last season. Only Kane, Erling Haaland and Callum Wilson surpass it among the division's most prolific scorers.

Those goals would leave a sizeable void for any replacement to fill. An advantage of playing for Brentford, however, is the service provided to their forwards. While the club's shots per game only rank 14th in the Premier League since the start of last season, their xG per shot leads the way.

This means the average quality of a chance created by Brentford is greater than at any other club. Essentially, it's easier to convert those chances into goals and therefore makes it one of the more favourable environments for a striker to thrive.

A key to this is shot location. Brentford's average shot comes closer to goal than any other Premier League side, bar one, which in turn boosts their high percentage of shots on target and overall impressive conversion rate.

This is also part of the reason for the increased