The Gunners are back in action under the lights at the Emirates Stadium as they refocus on the Premier League title race after a remarkable win over Real Madrid in midweek. Mikel Arteta will be desperate to keep the momentum up ahead of the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final, so has a few team selection decisions to make.
Bukayo Saka started against Madrid and surely returns to the substitutes bench, with free-kick hero Declan Rice joining him. That would see Leandro Trossard and Jorginho come in, while the likes of Ben White will hope a start tonight may boost his chances of getting the nod at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday. A win will cut the gap to Liverpool to eight points.
Thomas Frank’s side are more than capable of frustrating, and beating, any team on their day but they have lost six of their eight Premier League derbies against Arsenal. Is there an opportunity for the Bees tonight? Follow the game LIVE below with our dedicated match blog, featuring expert insight and analysis from Simon Colligns at the Gtech Stadium.
6min: A low-key start to the proceedings.
Action Images via Reuters
4min: A tame clearance from Raya lands straight at Mbeumo but the Brentford man wasn’t expecting it so Arsenal mop up.
2min: Arsenal with their foot on the ball early on.
A very different atmosphere to Tuesday night, as you’d expect. People still making their way to their seats and everyone in t-shirts, some with shorts, too. It all feels very end-of-season vibes.
Not long to go now. The players are back in their dressing rooms.
That is a another real blow for Arsenal. Ben White has been forced to miss today’s game after picking up a knock in training.
White felt the issue after training on Friday and was not part of the squad for Saturday’s game at Emirates Stadium.
In the right-back’s absence, Thomas Partey was shifted from midfield to the defence as Jurrien Timber was unable to start, too.
Arsenal will hope that White is back for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid on Wednesday.
“Ben White couldn’t be in the squad because he felt something again post-training yesterday, so that limits the solutions we have because Jurrien wasn’t ready to start the game either. Other players as well played a lot of minutes and other players deserve to play minutes to help the team.”
Despite the changes, it should be a fairly straightforward evening for Arsenal.
- Arsenal: 8/13
- Draw: 16/5
- Brentford: 4/1
(Odds provided by Betway, subject to change.)
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