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Preview: Brentford vs Arsenal – stats, team news, line-ups

Arsenal will be looking to start 2025 with a bang when they head west of the capital to take on London rivals Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on January 1.

Both sides head into Wednesday’s London derby in contrasting form.

Only one of the capital outfits ended 2024 with a win, as Arsenal saw off a brave Ipswich Town on the same evening Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion settled for a share of the spoils at the Amex Stadium.

Arsenal will head into the London derby as overwhelming favourites to pick up three points, although form tends to go out the window when capital rivals lock horns.

Nevertheless, fans will purchase Arsenal tickets from Seatsnet.com at competitive prices, hoping to see the Gunners close the gap on runaway league leaders Liverpool.

Match Preview

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal seemingly began a new chapter just before the New Year as they faced Ipswich at the Emirates Stadium without the services of talisman Bukayo Saka.

The England international has been sidelined with a hamstring injury that should keep him out for at least the next two months, so the Gunners are going through a period of adaptation.

However, they’ve handled it well so far. Saka could only watch from the stands as Arsenal eked out a hard-fought 1-0 victory against their determined visitors.

Kai Havertz delivered the decisive moment with a first-half strike, but Arsenal’s performance left more relief than celebration among the fans. While the win prevented Liverpool’s gap at the top of the table from widening further, Arsenal ended 2024 in third place after Nottingham Forest’s win over Everton.

However, optimism remains high for Gooners. Arsenal could reclaim second place with a victory in their next match, bolstered by a three-game winning streak and an 11-match unbeaten run in all competitions.

The Gunners dominated London derbies throughout 2024 – they’re yet to taste defeat in ten Premier League clashes with their capital rivals.

Remarkably, they haven’t left London since a trip to Sporting Lisbon on November 26, with this being their ninth consecutive game in the city. Arteta’s men look poised to continue their impressive momentum into 2025, although Brentford might have a thing or two to say about that.

The Bees briefly left the comfort of their home to face Brighton in a goalless draw that sparked controversy.

The major talking point came when Joao Pedro escaped a red card for an elbow on Yehor Yarmoliuk, which left many scratching their heads.

While Brentford managed to end a three-game losing streak at the Amex, the result further extended their struggles away from home.

They’re one of only two teams yet to pick up a win on the road this season, alongside relegation-threatened Southampton.

Meanwhile, Brentford have made their Gtech Stadium a fortress, which has helped push them up to 12th place on the Premier League table.

The Bees have one of the best home records in the league, picking up 22 points at their headquarters – tied with Liverpool – while scoring a league-leading 26 goals.

However, cracks have appeared. A 2-0 loss to Forest just before Christmas exposed their vulnerabilities, and they have yet to record a single Premier League clean sheet at the Gtech this season.

Head to Head

For decades, Brentford and Arsenal have walked very different footballing paths. While Arsenal has been a top-flight mainstay since 1919, Brentford spent over seven decades outside the elite tier.

Consequently, meetings between these two London clubs have been rare, with just 21 competitive clashes in their history.

Arsenal have been the dominant side, claiming victory in ten of these encounters, while Brentford has six wins.

A standout moment for Brentford came in their Premier League debut in 2021 when Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard delivered a historic win for Thomas Frank’s side.

However, since then, Arsenal have been the dominant force, winning six of the last seven matches. The only exception was a 1-1 draw in February 2023, marred by a controversial VAR error that allowed a Brentford equaliser to stand.

Arsenal’s recent form against the Bees includes a series of victories, including a 3-0 triumph in September 2022 and two 1-0 wins in 2023. Historically, Brentford enjoyed a brief dominance in the 1930s First Division, but their meetings since have been sporadic, including a 2018 EFL Cup win for Arsenal.

Team News

After the narrow win against Ipswich, Arteta laid out a number of key injury updates to journalists, including the current status of talisman Saka.

He confirmed that Saka has undergone surgery for a serious hamstring problem. There was more positive news on the status of the Chelsea loanee, whose knee issue isn’t as bad as first feared.

The trip to Brentford is still expected to come too soon for the England international, but Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White are still on the mend from serious knee issues and remain long-term absentees.

Arteta tweaked his set-up against Ipswich by starting Gabriel Martinelli in Saka’s spot to accommodate Gabriel Jesus.

However, Jesus struggled to make an impact, and he could be sacrificed if Arteta decides to bolster the midfield by starting Thomas Partey instead.

Arsenal came through their win over the Tractor Boys with no fresh injuries. But the same can’t be said for Brentford, who lost goalkeeper Mark Flekken early in the game against Brighton and Ben Mee toward the end.

Brentford manager Thomas Frank confirmed Mee will miss a couple of weeks with a muscle issue, but Flekken might recover in time to face Arsenal.

If not, Frank is confident in back-up goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson.

Brentford’s squad is bolstered by the return of Sepp van den Berg and Mathias Jensen. However, several players remain unavailable, including Igor Thiago, Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey, and Josh Dasilva.

Brentford possible starting line-up:

(4-2-3-1): Mark Flekken; Mads Roerslev, Nathan Collins, Sepp van den Berg, Keane Lewis-Potter; Vitaly Janelt, Christian Norgaard; Bryan Mbeumo, Mikkel Damsgaard, Kevin Schade; Yoane Wissa.

Arsenal possible starting line-up:

(4-3-3): David Raya; Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori; Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice; Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard.

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