A London face-off sees Thomas Frank’s Brentford meet league leaders Arsenal in a lunchtime kick-off on Sunday.
Brentford have endured a positive start to the season, with them sitting 8th in the table, a point off 6th place Chelsea. This great start to the season continued in their last match against Leeds, an almost perfect display which saw the Bees win 5-2.
This was a game inspired by Ivan Toney, scoring an impressive hat trick, a performance that earned him his first ever senior call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad. He will certainly be the man Arsenal will need to stop if they want to overcome Brentford.
On the other side, Arsenal come off the back of their first defeat of the season, after their loss to Man United. Despite performing well for the majority of the game, defensively they were unable to cope with the pace of Marcus Rashford.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping to get back to winning ways against Brentford and maintain their league-leading status, but with the form of Toney, they face another physical test.
In a match that looks to be very competitive, here is the team news ahead of the contest at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Team News
Key member Christian Norgaard is ruled out due to his Achilles injury, which will most likely see him out of action for weeks. Frank admitted surgery would not be needed but was unsure of his return date.
“I don’t want to put a number on it because we can become a bit stuck on that, but it’s weeks. (West London Sport)
Ethan Pinnock is once again set to miss out, on the knee injury that has seen him miss out all season. Whilst Sergi Canos also set to be out until after the international break.
However, there are no other fresh injury concerns for Frank, who can select a fairly strong side against Arsenal.
The biggest team news for Arteta will be the return to training last week for Thomas Partey, who could be thrown straight in for this tie.
Emile Smith Rowe missed out on their Europa League tie against Zurich and is a serious doubt for Sunday, after pulling up with an injury after the Man United defeat.
Whilst Cedric Soares may also miss out after enduring an injury, which also saw him miss out in the Europa League.
Elsewhere, all other first team members are set to be in contention for Sunday's game.
Likely Lineups
Brentford: Raya, Hickey, Jansson, Mee, Henry, Baptiste, Janelt, Jensen, Mbuemo, Lewis-Potter, Toney
Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Xhaxa, Partey, Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Jesus
Key Players
It comes as no surprise that Toney will be the main man to stop for Arsenal, after an amazing start to the season for the striker. He has chipped in with seven-goal contributions in six games this season (five goals and two assists) and will certainly be looking to add to his tally this weekend.
His performance against Leeds showed his all-around ability as a centre-forward. He is the focal point of this Brentford side, with his ability to hold the ball up, and run in behind, whilst being very comfortable with the ball at his feet. Not to mention his ability from set pieces, he has everything and will surely showcase this against the league leaders.
His opposing striker, Gabriel Jesus, is also a player that has performed to a high level this season, contributing to six goals in as many games (3 goals and 3 assists). After drawing a blank last time out against Man United, he will certainly be looking to appear on the scoresheet this week.
Although despite not directly contributing last week, he still impressed off and on the ball. He became a real handful for the opposing centre-backs, holding the ball up for his teammates whilst making smart runs in behind, showing what he brings outside of the goals and will surely have a big impact this weekend
Match details
Where is the game being played?
The game will be played at Brentford’s home ground, Gtech Community Stadium.
What time is kick-off?
It will kick off at 12 pm on Sunday 18th September.
Where can I watch?
The game will be available to watch on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event.