Arsenal head across London to the Gtech Community Stadium to face Brentford. The Bees, picked by some (myself included) as a darkhorse relegation candidate, have made us look foolish — they’re 7th in the table and dreaming of a European place. Keith Andrews’ side trail Liverpool for 6th by three points with today’s match in hand. Manchester City trimmed the Gunners’ lead atop the table to three points. Arsenal would restore the six-point gap with a win today.
The Gunners downed the Bees 2-0 at the Emirates
in early December. Mikel Merino scored in the 11th minute and Bukayo Saka sealed the points in the 91st. In between, there wasn’t much to speak of beyond one fantastic David Raya save. Brentford made it tough sledding for Arsenal but in doing so weren’t able to generate much in the way of an attack of their own.
Today’s matchup is between THE in-form teams in the Premier League over the last ten matches. Arsenal have won 23 points, Brentford 20. They’ve have made their bones this season on set pieces and high-danger shots. That makes for an interesting matchup against an Arsenal defense that doesn’t allow many shots at all and is quite good at keeping the ball out of dangerous areas. Igor Thiago has 17 goals in the PL this season, including 9 in his last 10 home matches. Both Brentford and Arsenal have conceded just two goals from corners this season, tied for joint-fewest in the PL.
Arsenal added Kai Havertz to the injury list this week. The German attacker picked up a muscle injury and will be out at least through the North London Derby on February 22nd. Both Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka are expected to be available for the NLD (or sooner) but today’s match is likely too soon. Leandro Trossard has an undisclosed injury that isn’t thought to be serious but puts his status in question for today. Max Dowman is expected to resume training with the team next week. Mikel Merino is almost certainly done for the season.
UPDATE: Saka, Ødegaard, and Trossard all arrived with the Arsenal squad. William Saliba was NOT spotted with the team. He is reportedly ill.
Brentford will be without attacker Kevin Schade, who is serving the second of his three-match ban for a red card. Attackers Antoni Milambo and Fabio Carvalho are both out of the season with ACL tears. Midfielder Josh Dasilva is hoping to be back training on grass in the coming weeks. He’s been out for two years with a terrible knee injury (ACL, MCL, and meniscus) that required three separate surgeries to repair. Hope to see the former Hale Ender back on the pitch soon.
Arsenal – Raya, Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Hincapie, Rice, Zubimendi, Madueke, Eze, Trossard, Gyokeres
Subs – Kepa, White, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard, Ødegaard, Martinelli, Saka, Jesus
Brentford – Kelleher, Henry, Ajer, Van den Berg, Kayode, Jensen, Yarmoliuk, Janelt, Lewis-Potter, Outtara, Thiago
WHO: Arsenal at Brentford
WHAT: Premier League match day 26
WHEN: Thursday, February 12th, 3:00pm EST/12:00pm PST/8:00pm GMT
WHERE: The GTech Community Stadium
HOW TO WATCH: Broadcast on the USA Network
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