Newly promoted Brentford will be playing their first ever Premiership game as they square off against London rivals Arsenal in the season opener on Friday evening. This is the second consecutive year that the Gunners have kicked off the new season with a clash against a newly promoted side- they were up against Fulham last year and triumphed 3-0 against Scott Parker’s Cottagers on that occasion.
Despite starting that season well, Arsenal flattered to deceive and eventually finished outside the European spots. That has left coach Mikel Arteta free to focus on the league alone this season and supporters will be hoping for a far better campaign from the North London outfit this year.
Arteta has worked towards strengthening his squad in the summer market- central defender Ben White has arrived from Brighton for a whopping £50m, as have Nuno Tavares from Benfica (£7.5m) and Albert Sambi Lokonga from Anderlecht (£15.75m). With Gabriel Magalhaes injured, White is expected to start in the heart of defence, possibly alongside Pablo Mari instead of Rob Holding, given Arteta’s preference to start a left footed player at LCB.
Early pre-season indications seem to suggest that Sambi Lokonga, like White, might also get his league debut in this game. The Belgian appears to have leapfrogged Mohamed Elneny in the pecking order and should start alongside Granit Xhaka, who remains at the Emirates despite having been widely linked with a move to Roma.
Lokonga and White both started in the Gunners’ final pre-season friendly against arch rivals Spurs, playing at CM and CB respectively in a 4-2-3-1 as Arsenal lost 1-0. That fixture saw also Pierre Emerick Aubameyang play on the left wing, with Lacazette on his own upfront.
Arsenal’s pre-season record hasn’t been very great- they didn’t manage a single win across four fixtures.
Hibs 2-1 Arsenal
Rangers 2-2 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea
Spurs 1-0 Arsenal
Despite their pre-season struggles and being the away team, Arsenal are still favoured to get the better of the newly-promoted Bees, as shown by the pre game odds at tonybet.com. This is the first time in over 70 years that Brentford will be playing in the English top flight. They finished third in the Championship last season and qualified via the playoffs, beating Bournemouth and Swansea to do so.
The Bees had the most goals of any team in the second tier last season (even more than champions Norwich, who are well known for their attacking style of play) and lost the fewest games (tied on 7 with NCFC). They however had 15 draws, the most of any team in the top half of the table, and that saw them cede an automatic spot to Watford and having to qualify the hard way through the playoffs.
Manager Thomas Frank’s most notable signings this window have been Kristoffer Ajer from Celtic and Yoane Wissa from Lorient. With the exception of a solitary 1-0 loss to West Ham, Brentford have done quite well in their friendlies, holding Man Utd to a draw and beating the likes of Watford and Valencia.
Last season’s game against Fulham aside, Arsenal have been a bit iffy on the opening day of the season in recent campaigns. What makes this a bit of a must win is that their next two games are against Chelsea (the new Super Cup winners) and reigning champions Man City.
Arsenal 0-2 West Ham (2015/16)
Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool (2016/17)
Arsenal 4-3 Leicester (2017/18)
Arsenal 0-2 Man City (2018/19)
Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal (2019/20)
Fulham 0-3 Arsenal (2020/21)
The referee for this one is Michael Oliver. He has refereed Brentford in six previous games- they won only one (a fixture on penalties in the Cup against Everton back in 2010). Oliver was in charge of five Arsenal games last season, of which they won three (all against fellow London rivals West Ham, Chelsea and Tottenham), drew one (Man Utd) and lost only one (Wolves)
Venue: Brentford Community Stadium | Kick off Time: 20.00 BST