Brentford v Arsenal 12 February: the form and the ground

 

 

• You build a super new stadium, and then slip towards relegation…
• Arse Arsenal on track to win the league this season, or could something go wrong?

By Tony Attwood

As ever we start the match preview with the two teams in relation to their relevant home and away results this season, and what we find here is that Brentford at home have garnered exactly the same number of points as Arsenal away.  Indeed, the entire win, draw, and defeat record is identical.   The only difference is that Brentford have a better goal difference at home than Arsenal do away.

 

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
6	Brentford home	12	7	3	2	23	12	11	24
1	Arsenal away	12	7	3	2	18	9	9	24

 

So to try and find some difference between the two sides what we then have to do is turn to the last six games table.   And here, again, the tendency of identical performances between Brentford at home and Arsenal away continues.  Although I should say “almost identical” as Brentford have got one extra point out of the last six games, but Arsenal have got a goal difference which is in fact four goals better but producing one point fewer.

 

 

This is all looking rather tight, so we need to pull in other evidence.  Arsenal’s last six games have included matches against Liverpool, Manchester United and Sunderland who were 8th before the clubs met a short while back.  And we might, in passing, note that in Brentford’s schedule, they have won their last two games, both away from home.  One against Aston Villa 0-1 and the other against Newcastle United 2-3.

But in Brentford’s last six home games, there is a bit of an oddity.  True, they have only had one defeat in these last six home games – although that was against Nottingham Forest in their most recent home game.  But in the home games before that, Brentford had a goalless draw with Tottenham Hots, and a 1-1 draw with Leeds. 

So yes, although they have had three decent home wins in the last six matches, these have been against Burnley, Bournemouth and Sunderland.   They have also drawn with Leeds and Tottenham and lost at home to Nottingham Forest – one of only four away wins for Forest this season.

Perhaps we should not push this all too far, but instead say that Brentford’s record of late is somewhat “ambiguous.”

Arsenal have played Brentford in the FA Cup and League 23 times, going back all the way to 1902.  Arsenal have won 11, six have been drawn, and six have been won by Brentford.   But the time span is not symmetrical in this case, as Brentford dropped out of the top division in 1947 and reappeared in 2018, so it really only makes sense to look at these ten more recent results from 2018 onwards.

Brentford won the first game of the modern era against Arsenal 2-0 at Griffin Park on 13 August 2021, but since then, they have not been able to repeat that achievement.   In fact that results from 13 August 2021, including a League Cup game in 2023, have been six Arsenal wins and two draws. 

Rather curiously, both the draws have been on Arsenal’s home territory.  So the overall goal tally from 13 August 2021 onwards (when Brentford beat Arsenal 2-0) has been 16 to Arsenal and seven to Brentford.   Indeed in none of the nine games from 19 February 2022 onwards have Brentford won, or even scored more than one goal.

So, looking at the overall league table for the whole of this season so far we can see that Arsenal are not only 17 points ahead of Brentford but also have scored 10 goals more and conceded 17 goals fewer – indeed Arsenal have conceded half the number of goals this season as Brentford.

 

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	25	17	5	3	49	17	32	56
7	Brentford	25	12	3	10	39	34	5	39

 

So what gives Brentford that bit of an edge?  It must be the teensy-weensy ground that they have.

The stadium has a capacity of 17,250 and is suitable for use for both football and rugby union.  It was opened in 2020, as part of a plan to regenerate a rather run-down area, with new homes and commercial premises.  It was used during the Women’s Euro 2022, which was held in England.  I also like the fact that the nearest station to the ground on the network is Gunnersbury, which is on the District Line.   But you know, these little things…..

Although the stadium was announced as being built to a 20,000 capacity, at the moment it seems only to hold 17,250.  I believe London Irish also play rugby here.  It is however, not the smallest stadium in the League, as Bournemouth’s Dean Court holds 11,307.  Highbury at the time of its closure, had a capacity of 38.419, while the Arsenal stadium today holds 60,704.

More later….