Arsenal and Brentford should serve up a feast of goals in their Premier League New Year's Day contest at the Gtech Community Stadium, Gunners expert Charles Watts believes.
The two London rivals have the honour of playing the first English top-flight game of 2025 on Wednesday evening, as Mikel Arteta's men visit a ground famed for its goal-laden spectaculars in the current Premier League campaign.
No team in the division boasts more home points than Brentford's 22 this season - level with leaders Liverpool - while their 26 goals scored on familiar territory is also a league-high, although they did lose 2-0 to Nottingham Forest in their last match at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Nevertheless, Watts has implored William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes to be on top of their game if Arsenal are to prevail, and he also highlighted the Gunners' recent affinity for winning on Brentford's turf, having triumphed in their last three contests at the stadium without conceding.
"It's got goals written all over it," Watts told Sports Mole. "Brentford's numbers are at home this season are crazy. Every time they play at home, it seems to end up 4-3 or something like that. We know how strong Brentford are, the goals they score and the partnership that Mbeumo and Wissa have. It's superb.
"So Arsenal are going to have to defend very well. And if they can do that, then they're definitely going to have opportunities to exploit at the other end because of the way that Brentford play.
"I think Gabriel and Saliba are going to be absolutely crucial to Arsenal's chances of winning. If they can keep things tight, if they can keep Brentford out, then the opportunities that are going to arise at the other end you would hope are going to be enough for Arsenal to go on and get the win.
"They've actually got a decent record at Brentford the last few seasons. They had that nightmare first game when Brentford got promoted, but then since then, they've won last year, 1-0, the season before that, they went there and won 3-0. They won there in the League Cup as well in the last couple of seasons. That should give them a little bit of confidence."
Arsenal's final encounter of 2024 saw them labour to a 1-0 win over a dogged Ipswich Town side on December 27, where Arteta opted for an attacking trident of Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard as Bukayo Saka begins his road to recovery from a hamstring problem.
While Trossard set up Kai Havertz's winning goal, Martinelli did not set the world alight on the right-hand side in Saka's place, while Jesus could not make an impact despite scoring five goals in two games against Crystal Palace to spark hopes of a revival.
Jesus is another option on the right flank, as is Ethan Nwaneri, but the former could also be at risk of the axe entirely if Arteta brings Thomas Partey back into the side and starts Havertz up top rather than in midfield.
Will Arteta stick with Jesus, Martinelli for Brentford clash?
© Imago
However, Watts can envisage Arteta keeping faith with the attacking formula from the clash with the Tractor Boys, saying: "I think he probably will stick. I think it's a little bit too early.
"There was a lot of difference in opinions in terms of how Gabriel Martinelli did on the right-hand side. I thought he did all right, definitely room for improvement. But it's his first start in that position since Saka got injured. He's going to have to get used to it, his teammates are going to have to get used to it.
"I think it's too early to rip things up and change things. So I think he'll probably stick and hope that this team can gel and this new attack can gel. They'll certainly get opportunities where they should be able to get themselves on the scoresheet."
The nervy beating of a defence-heavy Ipswich side represented Arsenal's third win on the spin in all tournaments, but there were shades of their recent draws with Fulham and Everton in the clash with the Tractor Boys, even if the outcome was different.
Arteta's men have often been found wanting against teams in a low block compared to sides that try to attack them, and Watts can therefore foresee plenty of joy for Arsenal in the final third when they visit Brentford, who have not kept a league clean sheet at home all season long.
However, comparing Arsenal's attacking play to league leaders Liverpool, who are nine points clear of the Gunners at the top-flight summit, Watts admitted that it was "chalk and cheese" to see how the two teams go about their offence after the Reds' 5-0 battering of West Ham United on December 29.
"Chalk and cheese" between Arsenal, Liverpool attacking play
© Imago
"With Arsenal at the moment, so much of the talk after games is more about the performance than the actual result at the moment. Arsenal picking up some results, winning, but then even after Ipswich, it wasn't convincing," Watts added. "They didn't play very well, they struggled against a team who sat deep, they didn't create too many chances.
"Even though Arsenal won that game, all the reactions were on how Arsenal performed. And that makes you think Arsenal have lost or they've dropped points, but they didn't. They won a game again.
"But when you sit back and watch Liverpool do what they did against West Ham, it's chalk and cheese in terms of watching how the two teams play. Liverpool are just the best attacking side in the Premier League right now. They're probably the best attacking side in world football right now.
"So it's very hard for Arsenal to compete with that, especially without some of their key players. The Brentford game is going to be really important, I think, for Arsenal. You would look at these two games coming up and think Arsenal are going to get a bit more space than they are used to, especially at home.
"Brentford aren't going to sit deep and look to frustrate Arsenal for 90 minutes. Brentford score a lot of goals at home. And you would think that's going to leave some space for Arsenal to exploit going forward."
Press play on the video above to hear Watts's full preview of the New Year's Day derby, or click here to hear the Arsenal expert's halfway season review of the Gunners' 2024-25 performance so far.
Ben Knapton
