Arsenal

Matthew Hobbs
BBC Sport journalist

Brentford are bidding for three successive Premier League wins against an Arsenal side who have scored seven goals in their past two matches.

BBC Sport examines some of the key themes before their meeting at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Brentford prepare to face the league leaders knowing their home form has generally been strong this season, although their most recent defeat happens to have taken place in their last match at the Gtech Community Stadium – and against an opponent battling relegation.

Brentford's 2-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest on 25 January is one of only two defeats on home soil in the Premier League this season and the Bees have since responded with impressive away victories at Aston Villa and Newcastle United.

Keith Andrews' side next take on the dual challenge of facing the competition's toughest team along with a quirk of statistics: since the start of last season, Brentford have only lost consecutive home league games on two occasions, the first time of which was also a 2-0 defeat to Forest followed by a loss to Arsenal.

Brentford, though, can rely on the superlative home form of their star striker. Igor Thiago has scored nine goals in his last 10 Premier League home games, including four braces. Only Manchester City forward Erling Haaland has scored more Premier League goals than Thiago so far this season.

Arsenal's attackers have rediscovered good form of their own in recent weeks, including centre forward Viktor Gyokeres, who has scored six goals in his past eight appearances in all competitions.

The Gunners' 3-0 win against Sunderland last weekend followed a 4-0 triumph at Leeds United although the former was unusual in the sense that all three of Arsenal's goals came from open play. It is only the seventh time that has happened across the entire Premier League campaign so far – and first since the 2-1 loss at Aston Villa on 6 December.

Should Manchester City defeat Fulham at home on Wednesday night Arsenal will kick off in west London with their lead at the top of the table cut to three points.

Arteta, however, has a strong record in London derbies, winning 41 of 67 at a 61% success rate - the best ratio of any Premier League manager to have taken charge of at least 20.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have lost just one of their past 20 away games against fellow London sides (W14, D5) since the start of 2022-23.

Can Brentford produce another shock after beating Aston Villa and Newcastle in the past couple of weeks? No, they can't.

Keith Andrews has done an incredible job as Bees boss and they will make life difficult for Arsenal because they are well organised and dangerous on the break.

But I still think Arsenal will win because of their sheer power that means they can run through anything.

This might not be the most entertaining game to watch, because Brentford will sit in and defend, and counter.

Arsenal will deal with that, and then find a way of scoring. A deflected goal will probably decide it.

People might say the way they win games is not pretty but there is still a lot to admire about Arsenal and, in the end, no matter what anyone says, it is all about winning, isn't it?

Arsenal are very good at winning games, and I am expecting them to win this one too. In my opinion, they will go on and win the title too, because of the quality of their squad and how good they are defensively.

As much as you want beauty to triumph over a beast, Manchester City are still far too flaky for that to happen.

Sutton's prediction: 0-2

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Alex Howell
Arsenal reporter

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Arsenal forward Kai Havertz has picked up a muscle injury and is set for another spell on the sidelines.

The Germany attacker will miss Thursday's Premier League match at Brentford and is likely to miss the FA Cup game against Wigan on Sunday.

Arsenal face north London rivals Tottenham on 22 February and Havertz is also a doubt for that fixture - meaning he could miss up to four matches with the Gunners also playing Wolves next week in the league.

Havertz has struggled with injuries and had only recently recovered from a knee problem he picked up on the opening day of the season which had kept him out for about five months.

Prior to that problem, Havertz injured his hamstring on a training camp in Dubai in February 2025 and needed surgery on the issue which saw him miss the end of last season.

His latest injury is a concern for Mikel Arteta as the Gunners boss is also without midfielder Mikel Merino who has had surgery on a foot problem.

Captain Martin Odegaard, England attacker Bukayo Saka and youngster Max Dowman have also been missing through injury in recent weeks.

Emlyn Begley
BBC Sport journalist

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Premier League game against Brentford at Gtech Community Stadium (kick-off 20:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Arteta did not really discuss how they felt on seeing title rivals Manchester City's comeback win over Liverpool and said there are "things we cannot control". He added: "We have to focus on ourselves. They were really happy when we beat Sunderland. Let's put all the energy into what we do."

• A reasonable portion of the news conference focused around the sacking of Tottenham boss Thomas Frank. Arteta said: "It's very sad news when a colleague doesn't continue doing his job. He is an excellent coach and an extraordinary man. He's proved that in the league. I wish him all the very best."

• On how to stay in a job, he said: "The first one is if you have the players right behind you. And then you have to win a lot of games. Creating that chemistry with everyone at the club. And win a lot of games. The percentage of wins has to be high if you want to continue in the job. I'm very happy. That's what we all wanted from the beginning. We have been able to bring stability, joy and progression to the club. Hopefully this season we'll be better."

• On another similar question on his time at Arsenal, he added: "Something I learned, you can have an idea but the players' qualities are the most important thing. Asking them to do something they're not comfortable with won't work long term."

• They face Spurs in a week and a half and Arteta was asked about the challenge of facing a different manager. "It happens a lot of times already this season for us," he said. "Focus more on us and what we want to achieve. We have to be able to adapt."

• On midfielder Martin Zubimendi enjoying his most prolific season: "Credit to Mikel Merino showing him the celebration and how to arrive in the box. The first time I spoke to him he said he was a bit constrained to go forward in his position. He's been incredible."

• On striker Viktor Gyokeres scoring more goals: "Not much [has changed]. His work ethic remains the same. Probably the energy and confidence, once you start to score and assist you start to believe it will happen and it increases. When he got himself fresh and available [after an injury] everything lifted and now he's clicking."

• Arteta was only asked briefly about opponents Brentford. "The past few results - amazing," he said. "Big credit to them because they're a top side."

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Six of Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres' eight league goals for Arsenal have come against newly promoted sides.

And since the turn of the year, Gyokeres has netted six goals across all competitions - more than any other Premier League player.

The Gunners beat all of the promoted clubs last season but have found it difficult to break down teams who defend in a low block, which is where Gyokeres' goalscoring ability could play a big part as Arsenal's title challenge gets to the final stages.

Last season, Arsenal dropped points away at Everton - but Gyokeres' goal from the penalty spot ensured the Gunners took all three points during this campaign.

Scoring against promoted sides does not take away the significance of his goals as Sunderland have been one of the surprise packages of the season.

However, Gyokeres' league goals have won Arsenal just two points.

Only three of his 13 goals in all competitions have changed the state of the game after he scored the opening goals against Burnley, Everton and Kairat.

A criticism of Gyokeres before he signed was that he was a flat-track bully, mainly scoring against teams lower in the Portuguese table.

He averaged 1.18 goals per game in the Primeira Liga in 2024-25, but only managed two goals in eight games against the sides that finished second and fifth, while 17 of his 39 goals (43.6%) came in seven games against the bottom four.

Gyokeres' style of play is not the most pleasing on the eye but can be effective.

But Arteta now has Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz to complement the forward, his impact can also come from the bench.

He has scored three goals from six shots in seven games when coming off the bench, compared to 10 goals from 55 shots in 25 games as a starter.

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Arsenal forward Charles Sagoe Jr has joined Swedish top-flight side Kalmar on loan until January 2027.

The 21-year-old joined the Gunners from Fulham in 2015 and signed professional terms in 2022.

Sagoe Jr, who can also play in midfield, was on Arsenal's bench when they faced Slavia Prague in the Champions League in November.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Arsenal's 3-0 win against Sunderland was proficient rather than magnificent. There is the square root of nothing wrong with that at this stage of the season.

As they edge towards the title some people, including me, would like a little more pizzazz, but in the end it doesn't matter. They just need the points and again they were at their miserly best with yet another clean sheet.

Four clean sheets in their last five league games tells a story of what Arteta wants right now and with William Saliba and Gabriel in front of David Raya he will regularly continue to get it.

They have lost only 17 goals in 25 league games this season, project that forward at the same rate and it comes to 28 goals in 38 games by the end of the campaign. That meanness is one of the major signs of champions. In the past six seasons, the Premier League winners have averaged losing 33.3 goals per campaign and only Man City in 2021-22 shipped fewer than 28 with a measly 26.

For all the star quality throughout their squad, it is probably those two stoic centre-backs who hold the keys to the Premier League trophy room.

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Manchester City can bank on the presence of one of the world's finest goalkeepers in Gianluigi Donnarumma for years to come, says journalist Rory Smith.

The Italian keeper made a stunning save to deny Liverpool a point at Anfield on Sunday and bolster his side's Premier League title pursuit.

Such was the quality of the stop, City boss Pep Guardiola could be seen mimicking his goalkeeper's action on the touchline - which you can see in an image below.

Image source, Getty Images

A debate on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club considered footwork, distribution and more, with some of the team giving Donnarumma the edge over other big-name keepers.

The Observer's Smith said: "In a really high-pressure game, would you want Donnarumma or David Raya? You'd go for Donnarumma. In Europe maybe the only one weirdly overlooked is Thibaut Courtois.

"I think it's probably those two as the best in the world. The sheer size of Donnarumma. Raya is fantastic but I think Donnarumma feels more secure to me."

Image source, Getty Images

Former Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given added: "When he came on the market it was too good of an opportunity to turn down.

"He's 26 years of age and could be there for another 10 years.

"The save at the end, a lot of goalkeepers would have struggled to keep that out.

"The size of the man. The presence that some goalkeepers don't have, he has that. I just think you see the reaction of his team-mates, they didn't think he was saving that.

"Thinking up and down the league, who is better at the minute? David Raya perhaps."

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Laura Kirk-Francis
Fan writer

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With his double in Arsenal's 3-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday, Viktor Gyokeres has now scored six goals this year, more than any other Premier League player.

The Sweden striker arrived in the summer as a statement. Fans expected an instant impact, something like an Erling Haaland-esque explosion into the Premier League. They didn't get it. But with his recent run of form, it looks like he could be exactly what Arsenal needed.

Despite his recent improving run of form, a common criticism of Gyokeres from rival fans is that he only scores against the league's newly promoted sides, or those in the bottom half. Factually, this is true. Five of his eight Premier League goals have come against Burnley, Leeds, and Nottingham Forest.

But Arsenal's title charge faltered last season against exactly these types of sides. Conversely, this season, Gyokeres is precisely the man to dispatch these sides, even if they still put up an organised and, at times, suffocating defence against the Gunners. This isn't a player stat-padding against smaller sides, it's one doing exactly what we need him to do.

It's also been an eye-opener for fans watching a player adapt to life in the English top flight while very publicly learning on the job. Physicality-wise, there is simply nowhere to hide in the Premier League, and Gyokeres has sometimes looked significantly off the pace. However, he has failed, adjusted, and improved in the public eye and under immense scrutiny. This is to be lauded.

He is proof that the move from Primeira Liga isn't just about technical skill, which he is still working on. It is as much about the mental strength to fail and grow while the world watches.

These early signs of him 'coming good' are no fluke, but the result of a player willing to be imperfect while the finishing touches fall into place. And his recent form shows every indication that they will.

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