Ben Burgess became a fan favourite at Griffin Park during the 2001/02 campaign, netting 18 goals in 51 appearances while on loan from Blackburn Rovers. In total, Ben led the line for 10 clubs during a 14-year career.

Now a teacher in Lancashire, Ben still keeps a close eye on the Bees and will be providing his thoughts ahead of each game this season.

Bring on the Arsenal

There can’t be a tougher task than playing the division’s top side away from home, but I imagine Thomas Frank is rubbing his hands in anticipation of yet another upset.

Arsenal have surprised everyone with their consistency and resilience this season.

For many years the Gunners have been accused of lacking leaders and being easy to intimidate. It seems like a lifetime ago that Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Tony Adams and Martin Keown were bullying and outplaying every team they faced.

Mikel Arteta has shown that if you have the right manager and give them enough time, they will produce a team of real quality.

With the additions of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Jorginho, Arsenal have players who know how to win and will demand the best from their team-mates.

In too many changing rooms, teams become complacent. It was interesting to hear Pep Guardiola discuss his reason for letting Joao Cancelo leave Manchester City, which happened to be the same reason Johan Cruyff released Guardiola from Barcelona: Guardiola believed Cancelo had lost his hunger and had become satisfied with the titles he had won already. He went onto describe how it took him a while to understand Cruyff’s decision all those years ago, but he realised he had lost that hunger as well.

A change can really re-invigorate a player’s career. Take Ben Mee and his decision to step away from Burnley and try his hand in a completely different area, playing a completely different style of football.

Arsenal have had that desire and thirst for success thus far, but just maybe a little dip could be on the cards after Everton upset them last week at Goodison Park.

Stats not good

Sports science and analysis continue to contribute to the world of football by making players quicker, stronger and less injury prone - I could have done with a boost in those areas!

Every manager has an inordinate amount of data at his disposal after a game and training sessions: who ran where, who completed the most sprints, who won the most challenges, who had the least touches etc.

As I work in a school, I’m used to dealing with data. I'm also aware of the distracting data that serves a minimal purpose.

I think the recent trend of tracking expected goals is another such pointless statistic. How can you possibly use these numbers to positively impact your team? I was listening to some commentators discussing Wout Weghorst playing for Manchester United. They side-stepped the fact that Weghorst scored two goals last season as Burnley were relegated from the Premier League and claimed he was signed for his statistics off the ball.

Are we forgetting the ultimate purpose of a striker? This is Manchester United, who have always had outstanding strikers like Eric Cantona, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robin van Persie. I can almost guarantee they were not signed for their stats without the ball.