The Bees of West London host The Gunners of North London in this weekendโs Premier League action. Actual football action is slim pickings (but there is plenty of royal news coverage) at the moment in the capital of England, so expect there to be a lot of focus on this one.ย
Arsenal is amid a tremendous run of away form in London derbies right now. The Gunners have won five of their last eight away matches against other sides from the capital city. That number is higher than the total number of derbies they won in the previous 23 prior to this phenomenal run.
Brentford will be no pushovers, however. The bees have nearly doubled their goal scoring output in their sophomore year in the Premier League. Last season they averaged 1.3 goals per game. This season, they are averaging 2.5 goals per game.
This could be a goal fest.
Arsenal at Brentford FYIs
Kick Off:ย Sep 18, 2022 at 12pm UK at Brentford Community Stadium
After Extra Time Pod: ย ย Spotifyย Apple
Arsenal Team News: go here
Google Result Probability: Brentford 22%ย ย Draw 24%ย ย Arsenal 56%
PL Position, Form Guide: Brentford 8th, 9ptsย WDDLW ย Arsenal 1st, 15pts LWWWW
Starting XI Prediction
The league might shuffle their calendar, but Mikel Arteta is not shuffling his starting XI too much. The Gunners are still without a few first team players, but they are getting closer to full strength. Any more postponed fixtures and they may just have a full first team squad to choose from.
Anyway, here is how I see Mikel Artetaโs side lining up.
GK: Ramsdale
DEF: White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko
MID: Xhaka, Sambi Lokonga, Odegaard
ATT: Saka, Jesus, Martinelli
Match Prediction
I am predicting goals for this one. Arsenal has shown a penchant for hitting the back of the net. So has Brentford. This could be the most entertaining match of the weekend. Brentford will be confident, because of last seasonโs result, and that will spur them on. But not enough. Arsenal remains top of the Premier League ladder headed into the international break.
Arsenal 4-2
Stuart Kavanagh is a journalist currently residing in Broken Hill, Australia. He writes for the Barrier Truth newspaper, along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, He also co-hosts the โAfter Extra Timeโ podcast and contributes at edgeofthecrowd.com when time permits.
Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.
