Arsenal vs Brentford

Live coverage of all the action from the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal take on Brentford in the Premier League, including updates direct from north London and ...

Brentford have the ball in the net via Mbuemo but the whistle has gone long before. It was a foul by Mbuemo on Gabriel or one by Toney on Saliba. Not the best of first halves for Arsenal who haven't been near their best. Huge chance and a massive let-off for Arsenal. That said, Brentford could easily be one or two up at the break if they were more clinical. Chants of 'come on' from the Emirates faithful as Arsenal haven't quite hit the heights they're capable of yet.

Di Gunners go face Brentford today for di Emirates Stadium for dia Premier League match. Arsenal players Gabriel Jesus and Mohamed Elneny still dey injured. Di ...

4 mins' Xhaka commit di first foul of di game after being too physical with Ajer as dem both try to win di header from Nketiah cross. Arsenal dey attack down di wide areas while Brentford look to play very direct. 7 mins' Brentford dey look to play very direct for dis match. E cross di ball along di six-yard box and Henry get to am ahead of everyone else. Jensen lay di ball off for Toney, and di striker effort no work. Di midfielder shoot with im weaker right foot and di ball go straight at Raya, wey make a good stop. Toney gets on di scoresheet to equalise for Brentford! Saka and Odegaard play one-two before di winger put in a low cross along di six-yard box. 70 mins' Trossard dey isolated as Arsenal counter forward so e try shoot from a difficult position. 3 mins' Arsenal no dey show no signs of a hangover from dia loss to Everton as dem play out from di back with confidence against a good Brentford press. 80 mins' Brentford dey sit deep for di half but trying to press Arsenal wen dem fit. Arsenal wey dey ontop of di Premier League table dey hope to extend di lead on top of di table.

Arsenal looked curiously flat against Brentford, and now they are winless in their last three as they lose ground in the Premier League.

Arsenal: The Gunners stay home for a huge top-of-the-table clash on Wednesday against Man City, who sit in second and have been nipping at Arsenal's heels in the Premier League race. Arteta on the need to rotate players: "You always think about that and with a few players especially when you lose. However, at the same time there have been signs of late that the team needs freshening up, having lost at Everton and now drawing against [Brentford](/soccer/team?id=337) -- an issue underlined by a substitute scoring the home side's only goal. The team had a really strong performance again today but we didn't get the three points." It was even more impressive the way we came back." The dip after such a fine start to his season continues. They moved six points clear of [Manchester City](/soccer/team?id=382) at the top but Pep Guardiola's side can cut the deficit in half with victory over [Aston Villa](/soccer/team?id=362) on Sunday -- setting up Wednesday's clash when Arsenal and Man City face each other in north London. [Arsenal](/soccer/team?id=359) got away with it last weekend, and have to pray they will do so again now. Or we did, but we apply certain principles in defending because they apply certain rules but surely they didn't apply those rules." Mikel Arteta has named the same starting line-up in every Premier League match since the World Cup. He missed two excellent chances, one in each half, before converting from close range to give Brentford the point their performance deserved, writing another chapter into a duel with more than a little edge. [Best/worst performers](#bestworst)

Saturday's surprise loss to Everton gave opponents a sense of how the league leaders might be slowed down.

"Losing brings a lot of opportunities to look at other things and the reaction of the team," he said in his pre-match press conference. There may be ways to make life harder for Arteta's side but it is not a given that just because Everton and Newcastle successfully gummed up the flanks any other team will be able to do so, nor that Saka won't simply beat two defenders a few times a game instead of one. In Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa he has two wingers who are prepared to do their share of off ball work and who have the pace to burst into the spaces that Arsenal's full backs leave. Everton's win and Newcastle's draw might have given opponents an indication of what can stop Arsenal but it has done the same for Arteta. "The goal that I scored against Forest – I was wide, I got the ball, I played to Bukayo, he went to the wing and I went inside the box. In guiding his side to a 1-0 win at Goodison Park, Sean Dyche picked up and ran with an approach that had brought Newcastle a point at the Emirates Stadium at the turn of the year. No team in the Premier League attempts a higher proportion of long passes than Brentford, no wonder when they are aiming for the likes of Ivan Toney. But that npxG figure points to the tactical adjustments that Arteta has made since Nketiah has come into the side. Gabriel Martinelli continues to flicker with menace but he is not the raging fire of the early season. Iwobi is across to aid Vitaliy Mykolenko and Saka has little choice but to push the ball back into the congested middle. However, recent games have brought with them the first sign that managers are grasping what needs to be done to slow the relentless tide of the league leaders. This time, the Gunners are on a two game losing skid but even that comes with the caveat that in the FA Cup they rotated significantly and their opponents Manchester City did not.

How the Gunners got on individually in their Premier League clash with Brentford at the Emirates Stadium.

Fabio Vieira: The Portuguese midfielder needs to do more with these cameos off the bench to help decide games. Leandro Trossard: Exactly the impact you'd want from the bench in terms of the goal. Gabriel Martinelli: Not particularly bad but a long way off his scintillating best. Eddie Nketiah: Looked good in some moments in transition but his influence was limited. Bukayo Saka: A little quiet in the first half but you can forgive that when he produces moments of individual quality like that cross for Trossard's goal. Martin Odegaard: Probably Arsenal's most influential player on the day, conducting the crowd and trying to raise the tempo. However, that part of his game faded and it wasn't a surprise to see him sacrificed for a more offensive option this time. Could have done a little more to set the tempo a bit higher for the Gunners though maybe. A few pot shots from distance as well when things were getting a bit more desperate towards the end. Sluggish to react for the goal though as Arsenal failed to clear their lines. Poor in the air for the goal. Contributed more to the attack.