Arsenal vs Brentford Premier League preview: Into the thick of it

On the heels of a physical London derby, the Arsenal return to the Emirates for a midweek Premier League match, hosting Brentford on Wednesday night as the packed December fixture list begins.

Much was made of the Gunners’ three match stretch coming out of the international break, and they rose to the occasion the way a team eyeing their first title in 21 years should. Dominant displays over Spurs and Bayern caught eyes around the footballing world before facing Chelsea in a high-profile London derby, where they split the points in a frustrating affair, extending their unbeaten run to 17 matches.

As has become the standard, the outcome of Sunday’s match has plenty of people over-indexing the result, eager to view it as a harbinger of an inevitable downturn for Mikel Arteta’s side. In recent seasons, it wouldn’t be far off, as the end of the calendar year has typically coincided with a run of underperformances, largely due to fatigue and injuries. The off-season was spent addressing those gaps, which have paid off so far. The Gunners are as close to full fitness as they have been all season, and have been in exceptional form, all things considered.

December ushers in a stacked slate of matches that lack the same marquee feeling as the last three, but are no less important. Eight fixtures stand between Wednesday and the end of the year. The name of the game remains simplistically similar – just keep finding ways to win. Rotation is inevitable, and will be absolutely vital, for the Gunners to keep their foothold at the top of the Premier League as the noise from outside of the club gets louder.

Can Arsenal rebound mentally and physically from a disappointing derby and maintain their winning ways as the games arrive thick and fast?

Here are three talking points ahead of Wednesday’s match:

Know the Enemy

Brentford come to the Emirates sitting 10th in the table with 19 points and a record of 6 wins, 1 draw, and 6 losses.

Life in the post-Thomas Frank era has been more or less the same for Brentford, which is a testament to the club after a tumultuous summer saw them lose their manager and key players Bryan Mbeumo, Yoanne Wissa, Mark Flekken, and Christian Nørgaard. Usually such a high turnover doesn’t bode well for clubs, but they’ve managed to navigate the first half of the Premier League season without any major drop off.

A lot of that can be credited to the continuity provided by promoting Keith Andrews, who was an assistant coach under Frank, to manager at season’s end. They also made some solid transfers, bringing in PL proven players Dango Outtara, Caoimhin Kelleher, and Jordan Henderson. Michael Kayode was picked up from Serie A side Fiorentina and has shown his quality quickly as well.

Another big part of their success has been the performance of striker Igor Thiago. In his second season with Brentford, he has lit up the Premier League with 11 goals so far, trailing only Erling Haaland’s 14 in the Golden Boot standings. He is a menace in the box, scoring a brace against Burnley over the weekend and 5 times in their last 3 matches. He is no doubt a player that top clubs across Europe will be keeping tabs on as the season progresses.

His contributions make up over half of the Bees’ 21 goals scored on the season, and shutting him down will be key for the Gunners, who haven’t kept a clean sheet in 4 consecutive matches. He is in red-hot form and will look to continue his dominant form midweek at the Emirates against another potentially makeshift CB pairing.

Overall, the Bees are one of the better attacking sides in the league. They have the 5th highest xG (21.64), the second best shot conversion rate (14.89%), and the highest xG per shot (0.15). Defensively, they are underperforming their relative stats, but don’t pop off the page in general. They are by no means a poor side, and underestimating them comes at great risk for any side they face.

Where they struggle is consistency. At the G-Tech, Brentford are behind Manchester City and Arsenal for home form, picking up notable wins against Newcastle, Manchester United, and Liverpool. Unfortunately for them, only one of their 6 wins has come away from home this season (at West Ham) as they are near the bottom of the away table, having only managed 6 goals on the road. If they have any hopes of landing in a European place (which isn’t out of the question considering the log jam of clubs in the middle of the table), they will need to break out of that trend and get into top gear on the road. They have enough quality to do it, so expect them to try to impose themselves early and often, as a win on Wednesday could see them climb as high as 5th place.

Injures & Suspensions

Believe it or not, but Arsenal somehow emerged from Sunday’s London derby without any new injuries despite Chelsea’s best efforts at turning it into a wrestling match.

Though they both missed out due to knocks picked up ahead of the match, the return of both Leandro Trossard and William Saliba looks imminent after the manager’s comments on Tuesday morning’s presser. Neither are expected to be out for long, and there is an outside shot that one or both are available on Wednesday, pending late fitness tests.

Kai Havertz, unfortunately, remains out despite initial hopes that he would be available by December.

Brentford will be missing Fabio Carvalho, Antoni Milambo, and Josh DaSilva. Loanee Reiss Nelson will miss out as he cannot play against his parent club.

OUT: Gabriel Magalhães (thigh), Kai Havertz (knee)

QUESTIONABLE: William Saliba (knock), Leandro Trossard (calf)

Predicted Lineup

Attack: Martinelli, Gyökeres, Madueke

Viktor Gyökeres is back, and not a moment too soon. The fixture list means all hands on deck, and the Swedish striker will be eager to return to his form from before his knock. Gabriel Martinelli was largely anonymous on Sunday, but the same could be said for several players. Opposite him, Noni Madueke could spell Bukayo Saka, who hasn’t gotten much rest since returning from injury. With a big match away to Aston Villa on the weekend, rotation is an absolute must.

Midfield: Rice, Zubimendi, Ødegaard

The return of Martin Ødegaard was a sight for sore eyes on Sunday. Even if he didn’t make a huge impact, Arsenal are better when he’s on the pitch. Eberechi Eze is overdue some rest, so expect him to start on the bench. There’s a part of me that thinks one of Declan Rice or Martin Zubimendi could be rotated, but both have been crucial to Arsenal’s run of form at the moment. I imagine there will be early subs for one or both depending on the game state.

Defense: Calafiori, Hincapie, Mosquera, White

Like Eze, Jurrien Timber is overdue a rest. Ben White hasn’t seen the field much, but has more than enough quality to spell the Dutchman. With Gabriel out and Saliba possibly available, the same duo that started against Chelsea are likely to hold down the center of the defense, with Riccardo Calafiori retaining his spot on the left.

Keeper: Raya

Goal aside, David Raya had a very solid outing on the weekend. He’ll need to be up for it once again, as Brentford are a shot-happy side with a high conversion rate.

The December crucible will be a much more telling test of the Gunners’ title aspirations than the last three matches. Playing a match every three to four days will push the squad in ways it hasn’t experienced yet this campaign. With a deeper roster than any season under Arteta, there will be no shortage of opportunities for the squad’s caliber to prove itself. The players’ job is easy enough – just keep doing what you’ve been doing. The manager has the much tougher task of managing minutes and getting the lineups and subs right with ample options at his disposal. If he plays it smartly, the spot at the top could be more secure by the end of the month, and it all starts on Wednesday.

WHO: Arsenal vs BrentfordWHAT: Premier League match day 14WHEN: Wednesday, December 3rd, 2:30pm EST/11:30am PST/7:30pm GMTWHERE: The Emirates Stadium, LondonHOW TO WATCH: Broadcast live on the USA Network. Streaming on NBCSports.com

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