Match Preview: Brentford v Arsenal

Brentford face Arsenal at Gtech Community Stadium on Wednesday (5.30pm kick-off GMT), in the Bees' first game of 2025.

Despite a number of injuries, Thomas Frank's side did well to hold Brighton and Hove Albion to a 0-0 draw last time out in the Premier League, whilst a Bukayo Saka-less Gunners beat Ipswich Town 1-0.

Pre-match analysis

Richard Cole, Playmaker Stats:

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Arsenal travel to the Gtech Community Stadium on Wednesday fresh off a narrow win over Ipswich Town but with the news that their star player is set to be out for at least two months.

The Gunners' visit to west London brings back memories of that first-ever Premier League game for Brentford in which Sergi Canós and Christian Nørgaard scored in a 2-0 win which allowed Thomas Frank's team to make their mark.

Since then, Arsenal have won their two subsequent games away to Brentford. In both of those wins, the club's star man, Bukayo Saka, started. In that first Bees victory, he was a 59th-minute substitute.

Of course, Brentford may well have won that game back in August 2021 regardless of if Saka started or not but what can't be underestimated is just how important the England international is to Mikel Arteta's team.

Saka has arguably been the only player to match Mohamed Salah as the Premier League's best overall player.

The 23-year-old has 15 goal involvements for his club in the league this season (five goals, 10 assists), which means he has been responsible for 43 per cent of the Gunners' goals.

Indeed, only Salah (13) has provided more assists than Saka while Cole Palmer and Dejan Kulusevski are the only players to have more shot-creating actions (95 and 93 compared to Saka's 89).

Saka also ranks third for key passes (42), second for crosses (99), and second for progressive passes received (195, behind Salah on 205 but ahead of Bryan Mbeumo who has 182).

Instead of Saka, the danger man may be Kai Havertz, who scored the deciding goal against Ipswich on Friday night.

Havertz is on course for his best ever season at Arsenal with 15 goal involvements from just 25 games in all competitions. In comparison, last season the German had 21 goal involvements from 51 games – a dramatic improvement.

The 25-year-old's seven goals come from an xG of 7.8 with only six other players in the Premier League having amassed a higher xG total – although Saka's deliveries and passes no doubt played a large part in that.

Havertz's strength can't be underestimated either which will mean that the Brentford defence will need to be ready. In fact, Nathan Collins is one of just eight players to have won more aerials than Havertz (52 aerials won compared to Collins' 63).

But Brentford will hopefully have to worry less about Arsenal's dangers than going forward themselves where they will see a familiar face, David Raya.

This will be Raya's first game against Brentford since he was at Blackburn Rovers, the club he moved to the Bees from. Last season's initial loan move to the Gunners meant that he couldn't face his former team.

Brentford will know everything about the Spaniard who has been in great form this season with seven clean sheets so far in the league (ranking him second behind Matz Sels with eight).

Raya's save percentage of 75.4 also ranks him second just behind Chelsea's Robert Sánchez (78.2%).

While those stats are impressive, the Bees frontline might just know their former teammate well enough to exploit any potential weaknesses.

Scout report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: January could make or break Arsenal's season

Arsenal encountered a severe case of déjà vu in 2023/24.

Having seen the Premier League title slip away from their grasp in the final weeks of the season one year earlier, they got right back on the horse, established themselves back into a gripping title race and climbed atop the division in late April, after a brilliant run of 11 wins in 13 games.

But even though they closed the campaign with six wins in succession, Man City still managed to pip them to the title by a margin of just two points.

Coming so close - and testing the City juggernaut to its limit - fired up head coach Mikel Arteta more than ever. “This is the most competitive league ever in history and we have to be better,” he said following the final day win over Everton.

“Now we need to find ways we have to improve. Now we have to be more determined, very courageous, very ambitious, and we need to go to a different level. We need to deliver. Don’t be satisfied. We want much more than that - and we are going to go and get it.”

He was clearly convinced the same squad could do the business; aside from the permanent signing of David Raya and the loan arrival of back-up goalkeeper Neto, the Gunners strengthened minimally, with the signings of Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino and Raheem Sterling, the latter on loan after he was frozen out at Chelsea.

The Spaniard was proved right when his side dropped just four points from the opening seven league games, which included a 2-2 draw with City - where Pep Guardiola’s side had to rely on a 98th-minute John Stones equaliser - and a 1-0 win over Tottenham in the north London derby.

“We start to build the right platform for the season to be in the places and areas that we want,” he said after the 4-2 win over Leicester at the end of September. “Obviously to do that we have to win, win, win. That's the demands from the other teams in the league. We can only control what we do."

The following month, they suffered a blip, which carried on into November. From games against Bournemouth, Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea, Arsenal took only two points. It was, by no means, catastrophic, but it was enough to knock them off the pace sufficiently that Liverpool have been storming away at the top ever since.

Even after going seven games unbeaten, and scoring 17 goals across said games, Arne Slot’s Reds went into Christmas six points ahead at the top, and with the luxury - or hindrance, depending on which way you look at it - of a game in hand.

Morale is high, though. Arteta’s side have reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup for the second time in four seasons and, in their first Champions League campaign since 2016/17 - when Arsène Wenger was still at the helm - they sit third in the inaugural league phase table, with two more games to play, making automatic qualification for the last-16 looking likely.

That said, a pivotal time in the season is approaching. The first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle is just days away, as is a blockbuster FA Cup third-round clash against Manchester United, not to mention a challenging run of Premier League fixtures against Brighton, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Wolves and Man City after the trip to Brentford.

For all the positivity, January could make or break Arsenal’s season. Will it be a happy New Year?

In the Dugout

Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta was a product of Barcelona’s famed La Masia youth set-up in the late 1990s and started his professional career at Barcelona B, for whom he played until 2002, with a loan spell at Paris Saint-Germain preceding his sale to Rangers.

In 2002/03 - the first of his two seasons at Ibrox - he lifted the Scottish Premier League and League Cup. After 68 appearances and 14 goals in all competitions, he returned to Spain in the summer of 2004 and signed for Real Sociedad. However, his time at Anoeta Stadium was over in a flash; he started three league games during the first half of the season, before joining Everton on loan.

He was an instant hit at Goodison Park and signed a five-year deal in 2005. He ended up staying for seven seasons and more than 200 appearances. Such was his talent that there was even speculation he could play for England under Fabio Capello, having not received a Spain call-up, though it ultimately did not materialise.

In August 2011, Arteta signed for Arsenal and, three years later, was appointed club captain by Arsène Wenger. He appeared 150 times for the Gunners, winning the FA Cup and Community Shield on two occasions each. He retired in 2016 at the age of 34 and soon became part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching team at Manchester City.

In 2018, he was linked with a return to the Emirates Stadium after Wenger’s exit. Though fellow Spaniard Unai Emery took on the role of manager at that time, Arteta replaced him in December 2019. He led them to a second FA Cup win in four years but could not prevent an eighth-place finish - the lowest since 1994/95.

The 42-year-old surpassed 250 games in charge of the Gunners recently; a milestone only nine managers in the club’s history have reached. Under his stewardship, Arsenal have so far lifted the FA Cup once and the Community Shield twice.

The Gameplan

With Arsenal journalist Kaya Kaynak

Arsenal journalist Kaya Kaynak explains how the Gunners are likely to line up at Gtech Community Stadium.

"It is probably the usual 4-3-3 from Arsenal," said Kaynak.

"They will invert the full-backs, like they have done this season. I would imagine that it will be a relatively similar front five to what we've seen minus the injured Bukayo Saka: Martin Ødegaard, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and probably Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli.

"That is their main threat and that is what Arsenal will bring to the party. Set-pieces will be a big thing, of course.

"Not much has changed for Arsenal; they are pretty much the same as they have been for the last few years, which is, maybe, why some teams have started to figure them out a bit."

Read our full interview with Kaya Kaynak here.

Pre-match press conference

Frank provides 'positive' Flekken update

Thomas Frank provided an update on the availability of a number of players for Brentford's New Year's Day game against Arsenal.

The Bees head coach said: "Three players went off [against Brighton]: [Christian] Nørgaard is no problem and can play against Arsenal; Ben Mee has a minor muscle injury and will be out for a couple of weeks; Mark Flekken is more positive, still too early to say he will play against Arsenal, but he can maybe, hopefully, be available.

"But I am in no doubt that [Hákon Valdimarsson] will be more than ready for his first Premier League start, if needed. He did very well against Brighton and I was very pleased with his performance.

"The news on Sepp van den Berg and Mathias Jensen is more positive and they will be available and in the squad. They have been out for quite a while so we just need to take the decision as to whether they will start."

Match officials

Bankes at the Gtech for first time this term

Referee: Peter Bankes

Assistants: Edward Smart and Nick Greenhalgh

Fourth Official: Thomas Bramall

Video Assistant Referee: Graham Scott

Peter Bankes will be the man in the middle for Brentford's New Year's Day Premier League meeting with Arsenal.

Bankes was in charge of the Bees' west London derby against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge earlier this month, when he booked Vitaly Janelt and Kevin Schade, before sending off Marc Cucurella after the full-time whistle.

The Lancashire-born referee has overseen 14 games this season; 11 in the Premier League, two in the Championship, and one in the Carabao Cup. He has shown 64 cards in that time.

Memorable meeting

Brentford 2 Arsenal 0 (Premier League, 13 August 2021)

Brentford marked their first-ever Premier League match with a memorable win against Arsenal at Gtech Community Stadium.

Bryan Mbeumo hit the post early on, before Sergi Canós beat Bernd Leno at his near post with a low drive to open the scoring after 22 minutes.

The second came with just over 15 minutes to play as Mads Bech's long throw-in was allowed to bounce in the box before Christian Nørgaard arrived to head home from close range.