Surely still pinching themselves after their fantastic Champions League feats, Arsenal return to Premier League matters on Saturday evening, hosting Brentford in a London derby.
Mikel Arteta's men are revelling in an extraordinary 3-0 European triumph over Real Madrid, whereas the visitors played out a far more uneventful goalless draw with near neighbours Chelsea last timeout.
Match preview
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In the space of just 12 minutes, Arsenal lynchpin Declan Rice scored two more direct free kicks than Kylian Mbappe has in his entire senior career, as the latter and all of his Real Madrid teammates were served the biggest slice of humble pie in North London.
Ending an Arsenal direct free-kick drought that had lasted over three years, Rice produced two outrageous dead-ball strikes - thus becoming the first man to ever score multiple free kicks in a Champions League knockout game - before emergency number nine Mikel Merino sparked Emirates euphoria for a third time.
Had Thibaut Courtois not been at his brilliant best, Arsenal could have easily decimated the 15-time European champions by more - as Jude Bellingham openly admitted at full time - but as Manchester City and Chelsea fans know all too well, Champions League nights at the Bernabeu are never a foregone conclusion.
Before attempting to avoid a Real Madrid remontada, though, Arsenal intend to keep their fleeting hopes of a Premier League and UCL double alive, having marginally reduced the deficit to Liverpool last weekend as their 1-1 draw with Everton preceded the Reds' surprise 3-2 loss to Fulham.
However, an 11-point chasm with seven games remaining is surely too steep for Arsenal to make up - and Arteta's team selection at Goodison Park suggested as such - but with a 10-point advantage over Manchester City in sixth spot, the Gunners can consider their rightful Champions League spot all but safe.
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The result of Saturday's derby may therefore prove trivial for many Gooners, who resigned their team to another 'what if' campaign several weeks ago, and there is realistically little at stake for a Brentford side comfortably marooned in mid-table too.
Prolonged inconsistency has prevented Thomas Frank's side from becoming serious top-seven challengers this season, and the Bees have just one win to show from their last five in the Premier League after last weekend's creditable stalemate with West London rivals Chelsea.
While Mark Flekken was called upon to make several crucial saves, Brentford had a gilt-edged chance to steal all of the spoils through Sepp van den Berg, but the Dutch defender got his header all wrong from a few yards out as the Bees' shocking winless home run stretched to nine matches.
Having also lost for the first time in seven away matches at Newcastle United on April 2, Frank's side have slipped to 12th place in the standings, nine points below seventh-placed Aston Villa but only three points adrift of a coveted top-half spot.
However, three points have not come Brentford's way at Arsenal since a 1938 triumph at Highbury, and the Gunners' 3-1 success at the Gtech Community Stadium on New Year's Day made it seven games unbeaten against Frank's side since the Bees' momentous opening Premier League success in August 2021.
Team News
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Beating Real Madrid 3-0 unsurprisingly came at a slight cost for Arsenal, as free-kick hero Rice and the evasive Bukayo Saka - who won both of those critical set-pieces on his first start of 2025 - were both withdrawn late on through knocks.
There are no serious concerns surrounding their availability for the trip to the Bernabeu, but Arteta should heed calls to rest the key duo for next week, allowing Ethan Nwaneri and Jorginho to enter the fray.
Ben White, Leandro Trossard, Kieran Tierney and Raheem Sterling - back from a European ban - can also feel hopeful of starting this one, but Kai Havertz (hamstring), Gabriel Magalhaes (hamstring), Riccardo Calafiori (knee), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Gabriel Jesus (knee) are still missing.
As far as Brentford are concerned, Frank welcomed Rico Henry back to the matchday squad against Chelsea after the left-back's crushing hamstring injury, and his return leaves five players in the infirmary.
Fabio Carvalho (shoulder), Igor Thiago (knee) and ex-Arsenal product Josh Dasilva (knee) remain sidelined, but Gustavo Nunes (fitness) and Aaron Hickey (fitness) are knocking on the door and may be given the green light to return to senior action soon.
With no fresh concerns from the Chelsea stalemate, 10 of the 11 who started that derby should be retained on Saturday, but Yehor Yarmoliuk is likely to drop out for the defensively-minded Vitaly Janelt.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Saliba, Kiwior, Tierney; Odegaard, Jorginho, Merino; Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Ajer, Collins, Van den Berg, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Schade; Wissa
We say: Arsenal 2-1 Brentford
A scarcely believable sentence just a few days ago, Arsenal will surely face more of a test against Brentford than they did against Real Madrid, as Arteta makes sweeping changes with the second leg in mind.
Frank's side can set up to frustrate the Gunners and also hit them on the break with the pace and trickery of Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, but several Arsenal players will be desperate to showcase their talents in the hope of starting at the Bernabeu, and we still expect the hosts to edge a tense derby on Saturday evening.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
