The chance to sit on top of the Premier League is within our grasp on Saturday evening when we take on Brentford at what is set to be another electric atmosphere within Emirates Stadium.
With Liverpool and Manchester City facing each other on Sunday, we can leapfrog the pair by maintaining our red-hot form in 2024 to claim an eight-straight league win. It would also be our third of the campaign at Thomas Frank’s expense after we won 1-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium in the League Cup in September, before Kai Havertz’s late strike clinched victory two months later.
The Bees have been poor travellers of late, having lost seven of their last eight Premier League away games, and you have to go back to 1938 for their only triumph on our turf in nine visits. All that bodes well as we aim to make a significant move in the title race this weekend.
Bees continue to get stung
It’s been a season of two halves for Frank’s team. At the start of November, three straight wins had taken them into the top half once again despite the absence of banned talisman Ivan Toney, as they eyed an improvement on last season’s ninth-place finish.
Since then, they’ve taken just 10 points from the next 16 league games to plummet down the table, but two of their three victories in that time crucially came against fellow strugglers Luton Town and Nottingham Forest to leave them six points above the drop zone.
They were pegged back by Chelsea last weekend in a 2-2 draw, as their inability to hang onto leads once again cost them dear. Brentford have dropped a league-high 28 points from winning positions - only four sides have ever dropped 30+ in a single Premier League campaign.
What the managers say
Arteta: “We have a lot to play for, the difficulty of the match is always really tough. We’ve played them twice already and we suffered, we always suffer against Brentford. On Saturday I expect a really similar match.
“That's the only thing we can control - perform well, play better than them and earn the right to win the game. Let’s do that and if we do that then on Sunday it's a beautiful game to watch for any football supporter. I will certainly be watching it.
“I will enjoy a magnificent game of football between two of the best teams in Europe in the last decade and let’s see what that brings, but the focus is on us and Brentford.” - read every word from Mikel’s pre-match press conference
Frank: “Form-wise, momentum, Arsenal are right up there. Arsenal, Liverpool and [Manchester] City are ahead of the rest. Right now, maybe Arsenal are performing to the absolute maximum. But we trust ourselves, we believe in ourselves, and we know what we are about and what we can do.
“But of course, they deserve a lot of praise. Arteta, his coaching staff and players have clearly improved from last season. They managed to have an okay first part of the season, but they look so much stronger now. I know we are not in the run-in, but they look so strong coming into it. They look very, very strong. The job they have done together is very impressive.”
Team news
With David Raya ineligible to play against his parent club, Aaron Ramsdale will be looking to keep his fourth clean sheet of the season, including two against Brentford. The last Gunners keeper to record three shutouts against an opponent in a campaign was Jens Lehmann against Blackburn Rovers in 2004/05.
Bukayo Saka was withdrawn at half-time at Sheffield United on Monday through illness while Gabriel Martinelli also came off with a cut, and Mikel Arteta is waiting to see if they're available for selection. However Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jurrien Timber remain out.
Frank’s first-choice back four will be out for this game, with Ethan Pinnock not expected to return until after the international break with an ankle injury; the same issue that has ruled Ben Mee out for the remainder of the season.
Rico Henry (knee) and Aaron Hickey (hamstring) are also out long-term, and Bryan Mbeumo is back in training after missing three months following ankle surgery but isn’t expected to feature. Meanwhile Josh DaSilva is out with a groin injury and Kevin Schade has missed most of the season with a hip complaint.
Talking tactics
Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme: Defensive concerns have forced Frank to have a rethink, switching from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2. He is rarely expansive when facing leading sides, so we can expect the Bees to be compact down the spine of the pitch, putting 10 or 11 players behind the ball.
They are always tactically well-organised and excellent at limiting space for their opponents. While they do not press high, they are terrific at disrupting play inside the middle third, and their 273 interceptions are the division’s second-highest tally.
Since Toney’s return, goalkeeper Mark Flekken looks to hit long aerial passes towards the striker, who habitually pulls onto one of the full-backs to receive them. Everton are the only top-flight side to attempt more long passes than Brentford, who are notoriously strong in the air. From flick-ons and second balls, they always present a threat.
However, at the other end, Sheffield United are the only outfit to have conceded more goals from open play this term than Frank’s men (41). Just four clean sheets from 27 matches tells a story, as does the fact they have conceded three times or more in a game eight times so far.
Facts and stats
We have only lost one of our last 10 meetings with Brentford in all competitions (W7 D2), a 2-0 defeat in the Bees’ first-ever Premier League game in August 2021.
Our two London derbies in 2024 have seen us beat Crystal Palace 5-0 and West Ham 6-0. Only ourselves in 1934/35 have ever scored 5+ goals in three consecutive London derby matches in English league history.
We are the first side in English top-flight history to have scored 30+ goals in their first seven games in a year, with 29 the previous most by Sunderland in 1893 and ourselves in 1931.
Only three players have been directly involved in more Premier League goals this season than Bukayo Saka (21 - 13 goals, 8 assists). He is also the only player this season to have had 200+ touches in the opposition’s box.
Havertz has both scored and assisted in his last two matches, with Cesc Fabregas the last Gunner to achieve the feat three times in a row back in September 2007.
Yoane Wissa is looking to score in three consecutive Premier League games for the first time. Six of his last eight goals in the competition have come in London derbies, though we are the only London team he’s faced but not scored against.
All seven of our Premier League goals against Brentford have been scored by different players, with Saka assisting four of the last five.
Christian Norgaard has netted two of the four goals Brentford have scored against us in the Premier League.
Match officials
Rob Jones takes charge of his first Gunners game since our 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in September. We have yet to end up on the losing side on any of his five appointments.
The Bees have also drawn 2-2 with Spurs under Jones’ watch this campaign, but lost 3-1 at Crystal Palace in his last match of theirs. They have won just three of 13 the Merseysider has overseen. He has dished out four red cards this term in 15 Premier League games - no official has brandished more.
Referee: Rob Jones
Assistants: James Mainwaring, Nick Hopton
Fourth official: Darren England
VAR: Paul Tierney
Assistant VAR: Steve Meredith
Recent visits from the Bees
Last season’s encounter at Emirates Stadium was filled with controversy as we saw two precious points slip away. Leandro Trossard netted his first Gunners goal to open the scoring on 66 minutes, but Toney levelled eight minutes later. However, VAR Lee Mason drew the offside lines incorrectly and allowed the goal to stand incorrectly.
The campaign before saw the Bees make their first league visit to our ground since 1946. Second-half goals from Emile Smith Rowe and Saka put us in control of proceedings, before a late Norgaard strike ensured a nervy finish.
Brentford’s first visit to Emirates Stadium came in the League Cup back in 2018/19, when Danny Welbeck netted a brace before Alexandre Lacazette wrapped up a 3-1 success for us against the then-Championship side.
Live coverage
Tune into the Breakdown Live from an hour before kick-off wherever you are in the world for all the Gooner-related analysis, laughs and build-up you can handle!
Nicole Holliday and Adrian Clarke will be at Emirates Stadium and joined by former Gunners Steve Morrow and Fabrice Muamba who will give their take on the current side and what the evening might have in store.
Michelin-starred chef and massive Gooner Tom Brown will also be on the show, while two of our international supporter clubs will be showcased as Arsenal Kilkenny and Arsenal Kuwait join us pitchside.
Frimmy will be out and about posing our Question of the Day to fans, before live commentary of the game against the Bees comes from Dan Roebuck and Nigel Winterburn - don't miss it!
You can also find out which broadcaster is showing the game live on TV wherever you are in the world.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
