Brentford travel to the Emirates for a game with Arsenal where victory for the hosts would see them leapfrog Liverpool and Manchester City, who meet on Sunday, to the top of the Premier League table.
For Arsenal, this is an opportunity as irrelevant to Brentford as anything else. That’s on them – the Greg Norman of football. A team perenially snatching title defeat from the jaws of glory. Surely they won’t choke it, again? Surely?
To be fair, they are on a phenomenal run at present. 7(seven) successive league wins have seen the Gunners scoring goals for fun as they close in on top spot. Last time out saw Sheffield United hit for Six. Before that, the run has featured high-scoring defeats of Newcastle United (4), Burnley (5) and West Ham (6). 21 goals in the last 4 league games. 31 in that winning streak.
With Brentford missing Ethan Pinnock and Ben Mee from central defence, Thomas Frank will have no choice but to once more play a back line devoid of any first-choice selections. The curse of the injury crisis biting once more although kudos to those stepping in. Mads Roerslev especially.
A line up similar to that which began our previous run out, the 2-2 with Chelsea, is likely how he’ll start once more. Look to lock it up before becoming more adventurous as the game progresses.
The Bess were magnificent as they opened up against the Stamford Bridge outfit and really should have won. The only bigger jinx than our injury list being that of the Gtech posts. Brentford finding the woodwork twice more in that game as goal-bound efforts were frustratingly denied through no input from the hapless Blues.
Then again, one could say the same about the home game with Arsenal. The Bees were pretty special in that one with only Declan Rice preserving the visitors modesty before Kai Havertz inflicted last-gasp heartbreak on the Bees. They worked the chance; we didn’t. That’s how football goes but it must give Thomas Frank and his squad heart for Saturday’s game.
Moreso with Mikel Arteta once more bleating about The Bees, using Thursday’s press conference to declare, “Every point that we’ve left hurts and it is still there. We have a lot to play for. Really difficult. We’ve played them twice already and we’ve suffered, we always suffer against Brentford. We know the demand.”
With Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka both deemed as potential absentees as a result of “little issues”, could Brentford have the chance to turn the screw further? To inflict more pain on a team for whom the revelations in that Amazon Prime documentary showed just how much Ivan Toney had got under Arteta’s skin.
Chuck in our hard-fought 1-1 draw at The Emirates last season and there really are plenty of bragging rights up for grabs. That game, of course, one punctuated by a well-documented dodgy goal decision. Ivan Toney, who eventually got our (legitimate) equaliser, called for the most innocuous of alleged fouls at 0-0 as he released Bryan Mbeumo to give us the ‘lead’.
The combo of face-palms and officialdom combining once more. Let’s hope the man in the middle, Rob Jones, has a good one this time around. With our old ‘friend’ Darren England providing help from the sidelines and Paul ‘restart’ Tierney on VAR duty, the support won’t be coming via trustworthy sources.
Then again, we’ve enough fighting spirit to do things the hard way. With Ivan Toney expected by so many to be joining former teammate David Raya at Arsenal over the summer, it could be the perfect opportunity to show his prowess in front of goal.
The game is on TV at 5.30pm but has long been a sell-out. See you there and bring it on…
