It was very much a case of After The Lord Mayor’s Show on Saturday. A familiar story as Brentford - like so many before them - came to Emirates Stadium intent on looking to sit deep and hit Arsenal on the break.
I could almost rehash a number of similar match reports from earlier this season. Low block. Domination of possession. Chances few and far between. PGMOL let Arsenal down once again with inept decision. Goal finally taken, only for the opposition to equalise with their first shot on target. Familiar? Well, I’ll run through a few incidents before I wrap that up; but then it’s on to far more significant matters.
No surprise that Arteta chose to roll the selection dice, with no fewer than 5 changes (I might have made more!), but the two notable omissions were Sterling from the starting line-up (and he didn’t make it onto the pitch at any stage as it turned out), and the disappointing absence of White from the squad altogether. The latter is somewhat of a concern, and meant Partey at right back when I’m sure that Arteta would have far preferred to rest him for Wednesday.
The game started with Brentford clearly prepared to concede lumps of territory and possession, but to allow a minimal number of chances. I’ve lost count of the number of teams who have tried that this season; and unfortunately far too many have succeeded in escaping with draws. Something that Arteta simply must sort out for next season.
A few half-chances were all Arsenal could muster, whilst the opposition fed off of scraps on the occasional break. Trossard had the first Arsenal shot on target late in the first half, but it was perhaps Martinelli who had the two best chances in an otherwise utterly uninspiring first 45 minutes.
The only controversial moment in the half involved a nasty scissor tackle by Norgaard on Martinelli- a potential leg-breaker - which the referee deemed worthy merely of a yellow card. VAR inevitably backed him up, despite the evidence of his eyes. If it would have been the other way round, we know what would have been decided; it was a straight red in my book. As we've quoted on numerous previous occasions: 'If that's Granit Xhaka...' But there's no point stressing about PGMOL any more; although surely the clubs must petition for big changes.
Second half, and much of the same. Until, unusually, it was Arsenal who struck with a breakaway goal. From a rare Brentford corner, Raya plucked the ball out of the air and immediately found Declan Rice with a roll-out. Rice put on the afterburners, with Martinelli and Partey in support, running fully 70 yards with the ball before releasing it perfectly into the path of the Ghanaian for an emphatic finish into the top of the net. Devastating.
But Arsenal couldn’t hang on. Poor defending from a corner saw Wissa hook the ball over his head to equalise.
Thoroughly annoying - as much because this wasn’t the first time we’d witnessed it - and despite several further half-chances (Bukayo Saka must be annoyed with himself for squandering one excellent opportunity of his own making) Arsenal failed to score a second and the game petered out into another draw.
Two depressing statistics for you:
1. This was the 8th time that Arsenal had let a lead slip this season - imagine where they’d be if they had held on in those games (and there have been various reasons for some of those dropped points; many PGMOL-related to be fair).
And 2. Brentford had a total xG of 0.19 in this match - the fourth lowest of any team in any Premier League match this season - yet came away with a draw. And of the three teams with lower xGs two of them - Everton (0.09) and Fulham (0.16) - also escaped with draws against Arsenal. Boy, hasn’t this been a frustrating season?!?
And so the clock ticks even faster on Liverpool’s impending title. It looks like they may well clinch it with victory over Tottenham - which will, I’m sure, be a cause for celebration for not just their fans and PGMOL, but for their opposition's supporters too; pathetic as Spurs fans are (remember last season and Son’s missed chance vs Manchester City, and how their supporters celebrated losing to them! How has that worked out, eh?).
But Arsenal now have bigger fish to fry - a massive one, coming fast into view as we head towards Wednesday night.
Memories of last Tuesday’s epic thrashing (or, to use a fish metaphor, battering) of Real Madrid remain at the forefront of our memories. And 3-0 really ought to be more than enough to prevent a turnaround. But the media have been full of suggestions that the tie is by no means over; despite how much Arsenal dominated the European champions last week. All we can hope is that Arteta and his staff are shielding the Arsenal players from the spotlight, preparing them for what awaits, and keeping them firmly grounded. And once they're out on the field, the message should be to play what's in front of you and cut out all the peripheries. It's 11 vs 11; and that's all there is to it.
Real are, of course, a threat to any side. Their forward line can be devastating, and I can’t see any way that Bellingham could possibly have as poor a game as he had last week. They’re at home, in front of a 100,000 crowd and with the roof shut (although, as @AFCMonty pointed out on Twitter, Rice cooks better with the lid on...). But it will be a cauldron.
Camavinga out, but Tchaoumeni will be back. So there’ll be little change to their side, I’d imagine. There’s a fair chance that we won’t see Alaba after last week's humiliation at the hands of Starboy, though. I'd also expect to see them reverting to 4-3-3, with Rodrygo up alongside his attacking partners instead of dropping into a 4-4-2. And I'd expect Real to have the lion's share of the ball.
However... Arsenal don't let in many goals at the best of times. And certainly not as many as three in any game. On top of that I'm pretty sure that Arteta will be looking to use the dirtiest of low blocks; looking to cut off room to operate for the speedy Vini Jnr and Mbappe, to reduce the space behind, and to make Bellingham's task of threading balls through that much harder. Console yourself between now and kick-off with this infographic:
On top of that, I'm absolutely certain that Ancelotti will be conscious of the threat posed by Arsenal's wingers. Saka, on his way back to fitness, has the skill to pose all sorts of problems to the Real defence. But Martinelli's pace will surely be the most potent weapon of all. With Rice's ability to devour the ground in both directions, Arsenal ought to have more than enough to keep Real on their toes.
And Real have stopped keeping clean sheets. Imagine what an Arsenal goal will do to them! Easier said than done, but keep them quiet early, notch off the minutes even 5 at a time, and force them to overplay their hand.
Remember, it's 3-0. That's a big margin. Real may have done it before, but this really ought to be the case of them coming up against a pretty immovable object.
I wouldn't say I'm confident, personally, but I'm certainly more than hopeful. And you ought to be, too - despite all the background noise. COYG!!!
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