Arsenal will face Brentford in the round of 26 of the English Premier League, in which the Mikel Arteta's they should have gone hard for the win. This is regardless of the results of today's Manchester City and Aston Villa games, which will kick off around the time I post this blog. Basically, it doesn't matter much whether Arsenal will be looking to regain their six-point lead at the top of the table tomorrow or even increase it to eight or nine points. What matters most is that the Gunners focus on their performances going game by game. It may sound like a tired cliché, but the opposite is true. Although there is still a good chunk of games left in the season, Arsenal hold its fate in their hands. The next step is to conquer the modest by English standards Gtech Community Stadium. Can Arsenal handle the role of favourites? I firmly believe so. Now, let's take a look at the match itself.
Form
Arsenal are currently on a run of four wins in a row in all competitions and quite frankly needs to stretch this streak considerably further. The battle for the Premier League lead is still pretty even, and therefore we need to be scoring at full strength ideally in every round. Especially in games where the north Londoners go in as clear favourites. However, Brentford this season has been one of the more unpleasant surprises of the season. Bees are doing well beyond expectations this year, which is confirmed by consistent performance and solid results. What is the current form of both teams? You will find all the essentials clearly summarized in the attached tables below.
Arsenal
| 📈 Current form: 🟢 🟢 🟢 🟢 🔴 |
| ⚽️ Results: Arsenal 3:0 Sunderland (PL), Arsenal 1:0 Chelsea (EFL Cup), Leeds 0:4 Arsenal (PL), Arsenal 3:2 Kairat Almaty (CL), Arsenal 2:3 Manchester United (PL) |
| 🏆 Premier League position: 1. (56 points) |
Brentford
| 📈 Current form: 🟢 🟢 🔴 🔴 🟢 |
| ⚽️ Results: Newcastle 2:3 Brentford (PL), Aston Villa 0:1 Brentford (PL), Brentford 0:2 Nottingham (PL), Chelsea 2:0 Brentford (PL), Sheffield Wednesday 0:2 Brentford (FA Cup) |
| 🏆 Premier League position: 7. (39 points) |
Team and expected line-up
❗️UPDATE: Kai Havertz has a muscle injury and unfortunately will not play in the match at Brentford. However, according to the first information, it should not be anything serious.
Given Arsenal's upcoming schedule, I expect the strongest possible line-up again. Despite the fact that the North London team will play their next competitive match on Sunday, it will be a cup match only. Arsenal will face Wigan in the 4th round of the FA Cup, who are currently in the third highest league in England, where they are also in the relegation zone. With all due respect to the opponent, in such a match Mikel Arteta will be able to afford to give some key players a rest. I write about the breadth and quality of the Gunners' squad relatively often, and this weekend will be another of many opportunities to use that weapon. Even so, Arsenal should be able to handle a lower league opponent without any problems. Especially since it will be played at the Emirates Stadium. But now back to Arsenal's expected line-up at Gtech Community Stadium.
Expected line-up
When I looked at the line-up from the last game against Sunderland, I saw that I've got one change to the expected line-up for the Brentford game.. I don't think he's going to start at the top of the attack this time. Gabriel Jesus, but Viktor Gyökeres. Not to be too brief today, I will take a look at the individual parts of the lineup and think about what the alternatives could be.
Defensively, the Spanish manager really has no reason to change anything. If all players are healthy, we will most likely not see any changes. Although there will be another complete defensive foursome on the bench, I think we will see these players in the starting lineup for Sunday's cup game.
The same goes for central midfielders. Martín Zubimendi and Declan Rice are virtually assured of their spots in the starting 11, while the competition for the position of a sub-roster player is slightly higher. However Kai Havertz has been performing very solidly since his return from injury, which he supports with goals and assists. Another great aspirant for the position of playmaker is Eberechi Eze, but personally I'm inclined to prefer the German footballer this time too.
I already wrote about the spike striker position a little while ago, so I'll move straight to the central midfielders. Given Mikel Arteta's long-standing preference for his wingers to play through the leg, so Noni Madueke will start on the right side of the field. No other left-footed midfielder is currently available. Or am I wrong and we will see the return of the sick tomorrow? On the other side of the pitch, it's usually between a pair of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli and this time will be no different. Although the Belgian footballer had to make a substitution before the end of the game against Sunderland due to a minor injury, I expect him to start against Brentford again.
Absences
Mikel Merino had a successful surgery earlier this week and now he's facing a long recovery. The exact date of his return remains in question, but early estimates are for an absence of at least three months. In the pre-match press conference, we also finally learned new health information Max Dowman. According to the words of the Spanish manager, the young midfielder is still not definitely fit, but he should slowly join the team in the next few days.
Something similar also applies to the pair Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard, who should be a little better off health-wise. Mikel Arteta did not reveal much specific information about them. From the pre-match press conference we only learned that the nomination of the star duo for the match against Brentford is not excluded. If we do see Ødegaard and Saka in the nomination, I would be very surprised if they start the game from the first minute. Whether both players are really ready or whether it is a tactical plan we will probably know when the official rosters of both teams are published. All other players should be available.
Opponent
| 🏟️ Stadium: Gtech Community Stadium, London (capacity 17 250) |
| 👔 Manager: Keith Andrews |
| 🧤GoalkeepersCaoimhin Kelleher, Hakon Rafn Valdimarsson |
| 🛡️ DefendersKristoffer Ajer, Michael Nathan Collins, Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey, Michael Kayode, Pinnock Ethan, Sepp van den Berg |
| 🎯 Midfielders: Fábio Carvalho, Mikkel Damsgaard, Jordan Henderson, Vitaly Janelt, Mathias Jensen, Keane Lewis-Potter, Antoni Milambo, Kevin Schade, Yegor Yarmolyuk, Reiss Nelson* |
| ⚽️ ForwardsIgor Thiago, Dango Ouattara, Donovan Romelle |
*Reiss Nelson is an Arsenal tribal player and is a guest at Brentford until the end of this season. Of course, he cannot feature in the game against his parent club, so the most we will see of him on Thursday is in the stands at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Match
Who would have thought before the start of the new season that Brentford would be following the departure of longtime team manager Thomas Frank and key players Bryan Mbeum and Yoan Wissy to move within striking distance of the cup. I dare say most of us certainly don't. Nevertheless, Keith Andrews' charges are currently in 7th place with a six-point deficit to the Top 4 (with a game to spare). The lion's share of the Bees' table position is due to Brazilian goal scorer Igor Thiago, who already has 17 accurate hits, to which he added an assist. Where am I going with this? Arsenal will have no easy task awaiting them on Thursday night in the western suburbs of London.
Despite the fact that Brentford will be playing at home and despite being in fairly solid form, Arsenal should dominate the game in my opinion. And not only that, Mikel Arteta's men should take all three points from Gtech Community Stadium to north London. Why do I think so? There are several reasons, but the main ones include quality, experience, sophisticated game system and last but not least the aforementioned breadth of the squad. Simply put, Mikel Arteta has more player quality at his disposal than his counterpart. In terms of the game picture, I think we are in for a classic this year. Arsenal will play into the deep block of the opponent, who in turn will try especially not to score or threaten from breakthrough situations. I believe that Arsenal will capitalise on their quality and form and win against Brentford. I predict Arsenal to win 3:1.
Next match
Not only Mikel Arteta's charges are facing a weekend without league football after a long time. But that doesn't mean Arsenal won't struggle on another front. On the contrary. Sunday 15 February 2026 the Gunners will welcome to their stadium Wigan in the 4th round of the FA Cup. Kickoff is scheduled for 17:30 (CET).
See you next time, I'll look forward to it!
You might be interested in
- Arsenal Weekly | Vol. 2
- Arsenal Weekly | Vol. 1
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- Wembley within reach, will Arsenal or Chelsea succeed?
- Will Arsenal break the league winless streak at Elland Road?
Editor, administrator and editor of the True Gunner Diary website, but above all a devoted Arsenal fan. I started with sports articles at the Tipsport bookmaker, where I have published more than 100 blogs. If you want to know more about me, check out the section of the same name here on the site.