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LONDON — It has taken 21 games to get there but the Premier League clubs seem to have found at least the outline of a blueprint for stopping Arsenal. For the first time this season the leaders have gone two league matches without a win, they might count themselves fortunate to have even got a point from their 1-1 draw with a robust, well-drilled Brentford side.
Arsenal’s great strength this season has been their predictability. There is no great drama to the minutes leading up to team news an hour before kickoff, if all Mikel Arteta’s players are fit you can rattle off the XI without any great consideration. The same players that lost at Everton last Saturday were trusted to make amends seven days later. They have earned that right.
Equally, there were no surprises waiting for Thomas Frank in the hours before kick off. He could have spent the week drilling his side in the knowledge not just of how Arsenal would play but who would be playing for them. “Does the predictability make it easier? In a way yes,” the Brentford head coach acknowledged. “They are very good at what they are doing. It’s about eliminating their threat.
“Clearly [Gabriel] Martinelli and [Bukayo] Saka, we’re very aware of doubling up on them. One moment where we didn’t have everything bang on, that was the moment where they scored [through Saka]… They’re the two most in-form wingers in the Premier League right now.
“Besides [the goal] we defended very well against Arsenal. I don’t think they had any big chances. Yes they had some dangerous moments but we were very pleased.”
Frank revealed after the game that he had not watched Everton’s 1-0 win against Arsenal in the Gunners’ previous match but his Brentford side played like they had got the message from Sean Dyche and Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, who earned a 0-0 draw here last month. Both had quelled much of Arsenal’s momentum by ensuring that their full backs…
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