Arteta praises Arsenal's 'willing and connected' defence amid injury setbacks

Mikel Arteta has praised Arsenal's versatility and defensive cohesion ahead of their Premier League clash with Brentford on Wednesday.

The Gunners emerge quite positively from a gruelling week that featured two London derbies against Tottenham and Chelsea, as well as a high-intensity Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich.

Arteta's side comfortably downed Spurs 4-1 and Bayern 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium but were held to a 1-1 draw by a resilient Chelsea side on Sunday.

Their demanding schedule has coincided with a wave of key injuries. The league leaders are currently without William Saliba and Gabriel in defence, while Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard are sidelined in attack.

Despite the injuries, the Gunners have not lost a step, with their squad depth proving decisive. In the absence of regular starters, fringe players like Piero Hincapie, Christhian Mosquera, and Myles Lewis-Skelly have proved vital for Arteta.

"Yes, it's been a headache, because we've had to have a lot of options and changes over the last few months for different reasons," Arteta said after the draw with Chelsea.

"[Losing Saliba] is very unexpected, and it happened yesterday, but the beauty of it is that you have players so willing to play, so willing to connect with each other, and it makes their relationship even better.

"So, it was great for all of us, and it gives you the reassurance that whoever is there is going to perform."

The Arsenal boss also reflected on the broader positives of Arsenal's heavyweight week, adding: "It's been a big week, starting with the [North London] derby, with how emotional and the intention we had to win it, then to play Bayern Munich three days later.

"We lost players in those games, and against Chelsea, we had to play a partnership we hadn't played before in a really difficult match.

"But the team had to react to that, and overall it's been a really positive week, because the difficulty has been immense."

Arsenal will gear up for another London derby as they host Brentford next, with their lead at the top of the table now extending to five points.

The Bees currently sit 10th in the Premier League table after downing Burnley 3-1 on Saturday, with Igor Thiago continuing his fine form with a brace.

A frantic finale at the Gtech Community Stadium saw four goals in the final 11 minutes, with Thiago taking his tally to 11 for the season.

"It's the resilience and character of the group," Brentford boss Keith Andrews said. "It was always going to be a difficult game.

"I was convinced with that. It was going to take a level of patience to break them down, and we did that.

"Right now, it's about building the character of the team, the resilience, and constantly progressing as a team."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Arsenal – Eberechi Eze

Eberechi Eze has been involved in six goals in his five home Premier League appearances for Arsenal (four goals, two assists) – the joint most goals and assists any Gunners player has managed in their first five home games.

The only others to manage six goal involvements in their first five home outings are Mesut Ozil (2013), Alexis Sanchez (2014), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (2018) and Gabriel Jesus (2022).

Brentford – Igor Thiago

Thiago has scored four away Premier League goals this season, giving Brentford a 1-0 lead with three of those. The only Bees player to score five away goals in a Premier League season before Christmas was Ivan Toney in 2022-23.

Only Manchester City's Erling Haaland (14) has scored more Premier League goals than Thiago this season, with the Brazilian trailing by just three goals.

MATCH PREDICTION: ARSENAL WIN

Arsenal have won six of their last seven home Premier League matches (D1), including each of the last three in a row, and that run is expected to continue on Wednesday. The Gunners have not won four consecutively at the Emirates since between April and August 2024.

Since losing their first-ever Premier League meeting with Brentford in August 2021, Arteta's side are now unbeaten in their last seven against the Bees (W5 D2), who are winless in their last seven visits to Arsenal across competitions (D3 L4), since a 2-0 league win in April 1938.

To make matters worse, the Bees have won only four of their last 23 Premier League London derbies (D6 L13), with all four of those wins coming against either Crystal Palace (twice in 2024-25) or West Ham (in February and October 2025).

Andrews' side have also lost five of their six away Premier League matches this season (W1), the second consecutive season they have had five defeats in six on the road at the start of the season (D1 L5 in 2024-25).

Before this, the Bees had not done so in a league campaign since 1997-98 (D1 L5).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Arsenal – 70.6%

Draw – 16.7%

Brentford – 12.7%