Having beaten Newport County on penalties in the second round, Brentford continue their Carabao Cup campaign against fellow Premier League side Arsenal on Wednesday night (7.45pm kick-off).
It’s a first meeting between the two sides in this competition since 2018, when Alan Judge was on target in the Bees’ 3-1 defeat at Emirates Stadium.
Tickets for Wednesday’s game are on sale to all season ticket holders, as well as My Bees Members with 10+ TAPs. Members with 40+ TAPs can now purchase up to six tickets each. Secure your spot at Gtech Community Stadium.
Pre-match Analysis
Alex Lawes, Playmaker Stats: Brentford’s aerial prowess could prove decisive
Brentford’s unbeaten start to the campaign ended after the international break with a 1-0 loss at Newcastle United, which was followed up by a 3-1 home defeat to Everton last time out.
But now the Bees have an excellent opportunity to bounce back against an Arsenal side in the middle of a hectic schedule.
Thomas Frank’s men produced an expected goals rate of 0.96 in that loss to Everton, which is 0.90 fewer than their average xG per game so far this season.
The lacklustre performance against The Toffees was also shown defensively, conceding an expected goals against rate of 2.14; 0.82 more than their per-game average this year.
Where Brentford will seek to exploit Arsenal is with a bombardment of crosses and simply getting the ball into the box.
Brentford average 2.5 shots per game in the six-yard box – the most of any team in the division with just three teams averaging fewer shots per game from outside of the area.
Given that Arsenal have blocked just 0.5 crosses per game, the fewest in the top flight, there will be an expectation that Brentford can get behind the Gunners’ full-backs who push very high and narrow.
Arsenal shared a 2-2 draw with their arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend after beginning their Champions League campaign with a 4-0 hammering of PSV Eindhoven last week.
Mikel Arteta will therefore be expected to rotate for this midweek’s short trip across the capital and that could impact their general groove and fluency.
For example, one key contrast between the teams is their ability or willingness and want to keep the ball and play short.
Brentford are third in the league, behind Newcastle United and Chelsea, for inaccurate short passes, while Arsenal are fourth in the league for accurate short passes. So, if Arsenal do arrive at Gtech Community Stadium with a rotated side, they could well find that one of their key strengths – holding onto the ball – is limited.
This should help Brentford to exploit a key strength of their own, which is having won the second most aerial duels in the league and completed the second most accurate long balls.
The clash of styles and timing of the match could well allow the hosts to bounce back from back-to-back league losses.
Scout Report
Carabao Cup remains a priority for Arteta despite Arsenal competing on four fronts
Given Manchester City’s dominance of the Premier League in recent years, Arsenal will no doubt be wondering what might have been had they won the title for the first time since 2004 last year.
Mikel Arteta’s side stormed to the top of the division last August and were five points clear of second-placed City by the time domestic football paused for the World Cup in November, thanks to 12 wins in their first 14 games.
They stayed there until April, too. But by that point any stuttering from City was a thing of the past as Pep Guardiola’s men hit their stride and the Gunners buckled. Arsenal won three, drew three and lost three in the final nine as the increasing pressure placed upon them finally told. They finished as runners-up, five points off the pace.
“We want to deliver success and the destination has to be trophy success and enjoyment for this club, but we have to enjoy the journey to get there,” said Arteta after his side’s 5-0 win at home to Wolves on the final day, which mattered little, but ensured they finished a thoroughly positive season on a high note.
The lofty league position – the Gunners’ highest since 2015/16 – as well as a return to the Champions League for the first time in six seasons, attracted squad additions of the highest calibre, suggesting the north London club has completed its time away from the spotlight and is ready to ensure last term was not just simply just a flash in the pan.
Yet while Declan Rice has slotted seamlessly into Arsenal’s midfield and David Raya appears to have claimed the no.1 spot from Aaron Ramsdale, Jurrien Timber suffered an ACL injury last month and Kai Havertz has not yet justified why the club shelled out £65 million to bring him in from Chelsea in the summer.
That said, Arteta’s men have started brightly, albeit perhaps not quite in the same, ruthless manner as 2022/23.
They collected their first piece of silverware after beating City on penalties in the Community Shield – which likely felt all the sweeter considering the end of the previous season – and started their European campaign by blowing PSV away in a 4-0 victory at Emirates Stadium last week.
Arsenal sit fourth in the Premier League - one of only eight teams in the top four divisions to remain unbeaten - after four wins and two draws, having been held by Tottenham Hotspur in an eventful north London derby on Sunday. “The energy the boys put in, the attitude was phenomenal,” Arteta said afterwards. “But we lacked composure on the ball against a really good Spurs side. The second goal affected the team emotionally.”
With their visit to the Gtech Arsenal’s third match in the space of a week, there is likely to be rotation from Arteta, though not to the extent some might expect.
As Arsenal reporter Kaya Kaynak tells brentfordfc.com, though the Carabao Cup is unlikely to be at the top of priority list, “breeding a winning mentality” certainly is.
Arsenal will be out to keep momentum at optimum level on Wednesday night – there is no doubt about that.
In the Dugout
Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta, a product of Barcelona’s famed La Masia youth set-up in the late 1990s, started his professional career at Barcelona B, for whom he played until 2002, with a loan spell at Paris Saint-Germain preceding his sale to Rangers for £6 million.
In 2002/03 - the first of his two seasons at Ibrox - he lifted the Scottish Premier League and League Cup and after 68 appearances and 14 goals in all competitions, he returned to Spain in the summer of 2004 and signed for Real Sociedad.
However, his time at Anoeta was over in a flash; he started three league games during the first half of the season, before joining Everton on loan.
He was an instant hit at Goodison Park and signed a five-year deal in 2005, though he ended up staying for seven seasons and more than 200 appearances.
Such was his talent that there was even speculation he could play for England under Fabio Capello, having not received a Spain call-up, though it ultimately did not materialise.
In August 2011, Arteta signed for Arsenal for a reported fee of £10 million and, three years later, was appointed club captain by Arsène Wenger. He appeared 150 times for the Gunners, winning the FA Cup and Community Shield on two occasions each.
He retired in 2016 at the age of 34 and soon became part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching team at Manchester City.
In 2018, he was linked with a return to the Emirates after Wenger’s exit, but though fellow Spaniard Unai Emery took on the role of manager at that time, Arteta replaced him in December 2019. He led them to a second FA Cup win in four years but could not prevent an eighth-place finish – the lowest since 1994/95.
The 41-year-old surpassed 150 games in charge of the Gunners last season and is now 13 away from 200; a milestone only 10 managers in the club’s history have surpassed.
More impressively, the 110 wins he has overseen during his time in charge represent a win ratio of 58.82 per cent, which is the highest in club history. Under his stewardship, Arsenal have so far lifted the FA Cup once and the Community Shield twice.
Team News
Schade requires surgery after suffering adductor injury
Kevin Schade has been added to Brentford’s lengthy casualty list after suffering an adductor injury during the warm-up before the Bees’ Premier League game against Everton on Saturday.
Head coach Thomas Frank has confirmed that the German international will undergo surgery this week.
“He will be out for months,” said Frank. “It’s a blow, of course it is. He’s a player we have big expectations for, and he was starting to show some of his fantastic abilities with a goal against Crystal Palace.
“But this is football; this happens. There will be challenges that we have to work our way through, and we will do that.”
Frank also revealed that Ben Mee “will be some weeks with a muscle injury”, while Mikkel Damsgaard is seeing a knee specialist this week.
Schade, Mee and Damsgaard are joined on the sidelines by Shandon Baptiste, Josh Dasilva and Rico Henry.
The Gameplan
With Kaya Kaynak, chief Arsenal writer for football.london
Kaya Kaynak, chief Arsenal writer for football.london, believes that the Gunners will field a strong side at Gtech Community Stadium on Wednesday:
“I think we will see a relatively experienced side, full of names that most people will know from over the past couple of years because there is such depth now, which is needed for the Champions League.
"Players who have not featured much this season will come in, so I would back Emile Smith Rowe to start and, maybe because Arsenal are a little short of numbers in defence, I would say Reuelle Walters - an 18-year-old defender who can play across the backline - may be involved in the squad. Whether we will see him start is another question altogether.”
Read the full interview with Kaya Kaynak here.
Match Officials
Bankes confirmed as referee for Carabao Cup clash
Referee: Peter Bankes
Assistants: Harry Lennard and Nick Hopton
Fourth Official: John Busby
Referee Peter Bankes returns to Gtech Community Stadium little over a month since his last Brentford assignment.
Bankes kept his cards in his pocket during the Bees’ 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on 26 August.
This is in sharp contrast to Bankes’ last Premier League game between Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United, when he showed 12 yellow cards and sent off Blades striker Oli McBurnie.
Bankes refereed 35 games last season, including Brentford’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in February.
Last time out in the Carabao Cup
Newport County 1 Brentford 1 (0-3 on penalties)
Ellery Balcombe was the penalty shootout hero as he saved two spot-kicks on his debut to send Brentford through to the third round of the Carabao Cup following a 1-1 draw with Newport County at Rodney Parade.
After a goalless opening 87 minutes, Mathias Jensen looked like he’d struck the decisive blow when he converted Keane Lewis-Potter’s cut-back from close range.
However, substitute Kiban Rai headed home a leveller six minutes into stoppage-time to take the game to spot-kicks.
Adam Lewis hit the post for Newport before Balcombe denied Nathan Wood and Bryn Morris low to his right while Brentford - through Bryan Mbuemo, Yoane Wissa and Lewis-Potter - were perfect from 12 yards to book their spot in the last 32.