ARSENAL VS BRENTFORD: | "A MEGA WEEKEND IN THE TITLE RACE!" & what do we want from Liverpool v City?

Introduction [Music] to the left hand side for Vieira who will play it through to Gabrielle Jesus who's in here for Arsenal Gabrielle Jesus to finish it off oh what a way to do it Gabrielle Jesu seals the points for Arsenal he's back and he's back with a bang to the Penalty area it goes Gabrielle's header and it's into the back of the net Arsenal take an early lead through you're listening to The Chronicles of auna the daily Arsenal podcast with me haric [Applause] Sim hey everybody how's it going hope you're all good hope you're all well welcome back to another LIVE edition of The Chronicles of auna podcast it's the big match preview I kind of want to rename this episode to the big weekend preview because on this Edition we're not just going to preview you Arsenal's game against brenford of course it's a really important game it's a game that is massive when you think about some of the other fixtures taking place this weekend but I do want to focus a little bit also on the game that's coming up at anfield as well on Sunday because that has the potential to have huge ramifications on the title race so we're going to do a bit of that on this episode as well we're going to preview Arsenal brenford in detail as we always do we're going to discuss some of the statistics going into this game I'm going to talk a little bit about what I expect to see from Thomas Frank's side we'll talk about the starting lineup what should Mikel Etta do given his update on the team news we'll also talk a little bit about his press conference yesterday we'll run through some of the key points from that then I'll give you a prediction but as I say we're also going to focus on that game between Liverpool and Manchester City which is a huge one arguably the biggest game of the season so far and takes place on Sunday all I want from ARS on Saturday and I'm not greedy I don't want another five six that's not well I'd like it but that's not what I'm sort of going into the weekend expecting all I want is Arsenal however they manag to do it by hook or by crook to put another three points on the board so that we can sit down on Sunday afternoon and watch this fascinating encounter between Liverpool and Manchester City unfold without any regret if Liverpool then go on to win out of our hands out of our control but I will know that we did our bit if Manchester City go on and win and I'll talk a little bit about what I'd prefer uh to see happen in that game a little bit later on if Manchester City go win or Liverpool go win or there's a draw whatever my preferred outcome is if I don't get that I'm fine as long as I know that we've done our job as long as we've done our bit I don't want to be relying on a certain result in order to kind of Keep Us Alive in the title race we just got to do our bit and nothing else matters as long as Arsenal pick up three points I'm not going to obsess over what happens on Sunday but I just want to be able to sit down on Sunday afternoon and watch that game and enjoy a good game of football and whatever happens happens is something that we'll deal with further down the line because we know that we've done our bit it's Mother's Day on Sunday as well and I've just broken it to the wife that we might have to do our Mother's Day outing meal whatever on the Monday um because I'm working on Saturday but I also don't want to miss any of the football on Sunday I mean we got two cracking games we've got Villa against Spurs which is massive in terms of the top four race the battle of the high lines between unai Emory and an Posta cogo and then of course we've got this game that I keep mentioning because it feels like I'm not going to say it's more important than the game it's not but it feels like that's where everybody's eyes are at and what I don't want is us to be complacent and I'm not suggesting that we would be but what I want is put that to one side focus on our game go and do our job and then we'll just see what happens on Sunday and take it from there good morning to lots of you who are joining us live in the chat box right now hope you're all good hope you're all well um thank you so so much for joining me really really appreciate if you're watching this back um a little bit later on then please do leave a like on the video leave your thoughts in the comment section down below and make sure that you're subscribed to the channel if you're watching us that I've said what you should do if you're watching us if you're listening to us please leave us a review as well it really really does help but look let's start off then by focusing on the Arsenal who take on brenford this weekend let's do Mikel Arteta's press conference reaction it okay I thought the best place to start would be Mikel arteta's press conference which he gave to the media yesterday after noon um I'll share the screen with you and we'll run through uh some of the key uh components of that uh of course Aaron ramsdale will be returning in goal uh this weekend we don't really have much choice because we're yet to complete the deal for David ryer and obviously we didn't manage to do it during the January transfer window it is a deal that's been the pipeline to happen uh of course in the summer due to sort of financial reasons and the way we kind of want to balance the books and all the rest of it we know that's the real reason um nobody was born yesterday well people were born yesterday but none of us that are watching this if you're watching this and you were born yesterday that is incredible but yeah I'm going around the houses but the point is that Aaron ramsdale is playing this weekend and that was one of the things um that dominated the press conference mik Aletta was asked to provide a kind of General update on the team news and he said look not much uh we've got some players back last Monday and then we had of course Martinelli and Boko with little issues but we're pretty positive that hopefully they can be part of that but we'll have to wait and see how they are tomorrow the classic micheletta line of we'll have to wait and see how they are tomorrow so he never wants to give too much away does he in with regards to who's fit who's not fit the the noises I'm hearing and and the kind of word I'm getting is that there is a lot positivity within the group that these two will be available to participate in some way Bayo Saka was unwell up at Sheffield United and he came off at halim because the game was essentially won he probably would have powered through and continued had the game not been in the state it was but when you go in at halim 5 nil up why take the risk why put him through that and Martinelli's issue we understand is a cut which is going to be painful and is going to need wrapping and bandaging and all of that um don't know the details I don't know how deep the cut is if it's one that you know is going to limit him from being able to participate in training or or playing um on on the on the day I'm less worried about the Martinelli one because we've got different options there and I think the rightwing position is a position that we're always short in when Bayo saaka is not available and I think if you had to pick one of them and say he's more important to the team you would wouldn't you pick Bayo saaka um so I wouldn't take the Gamble with Martinelli if there's any issue but of course with sacker it was an illness thing and I'm just hoping that he has recovered from that and will be able to play a part uh michetta was asked about Aaron ramsdell's game time this season ahead of this game against brenford he says it is what it is he is fully prepared he trains really well every day he's desperate to play like the rest of the boys who haven't had that many opportunities and Saturday is a great day for him this could be Aaron ramsdell's Last Dance in an Arsenal sht it could be it could be because you know I can't see him displacing David ryer unless there is a problem with David ryer you know the the guy is obviously ineligible to play this weekend otherwise you can bet your bottom dollar that he would have been starting on Saturday why would you change it the defense has been solid David ryer I think is is developing and is coming into his own Arsenal Football Club after a bit of a shaky start it has to be said so I don't think for for any reason um you know well I don't think there's any reason that we would have seen ramsdale come back into the side had it not been for a David ryer injury or this scenario where of course David ryer who still belongs to brenford technically is not allowed to play as a result of that Michel artetta was asked about Aaron's attitude this season he said he's been brilliant he's been really good really supportive really pushing everything in training like I expected and it's a joy to have two top goalkeepers in the team and that is what we have you know two top goalkeepers available to us lots of talk about the Dubai trip um you know we've heard all of this already so I don't really want to go into that too much M artetta was asked about focusing on brenford and maybe not thinking about the big game that I've mentioned about 600 times at the start of this podcast because that's how big it is and mega it is in terms of the title race and he said look the only thing we can control is the brenford game uh perform well play better than them and earn the right to win the game let's do that and then if we do that on Sunday it's a beautiful game to watch for any football supporter and I will certainly be watching it and as I keep saying if we go into that game on Sunday knowing that we've done our bit and we've done our job you can just kind of and I know people will have their preferred outcomes but it's much easier to then go whatever happens happens it is what it is Po yourself a nice drink sit down and watch the game and just enjoy it because it is going to be a cracking game of football um he was asked if he cares about the result of that game uh he said I can't control it I'll enjoy a magnificent game of football between two of the best teams in Europe in the last decade and let's see what that brings but the focus is on us and on brenford he was asked um if he has a preference with regards to who wins and he says privately and publicly I have the same answer because it's nothing to do with me um he was asked about new contracts we've heard a lot over the last few days about Ben White being closed to signing a new deal Atta hero Tommy ASU apparently having his wages doubled to around about 100K a week um Mikel artetta said not really I leave that more to edu and the club to announce those things when the time is right so Mel artetta not giving anything away on uh that front um obviously if ask win the game on Saturday and then there's a draw between Liverpool and Manchester City Arsenal would stay top of the league and Michel Etta was asked if Arsenal moving into the top spot and even if it's just overnight you know does that add pressure um to to our Rivals does that create a pressure do they then look at the table and go bloody hell we need to pull our fingers out here because Arsenal you know who look like they might be falling away before this kind of winter break have put this incredible run of results together they've put their foot on the gas they're blowing teams away they're making statement after statement in terms of their victories and the nature of them does Arsenal going top cause a problem for those teams because the fact is right that you know you win 5- nil you win 6- nil obviously it's a boost for your goal difference but ultimately it only gives you three points right so for all the praise that Arsenal have got and and for all the talk about how brilliant they've been and how excellent they're performing they're still third in the Premier League table but then does the combination of Arsenal maybe leapfrogging those two teams if all goes well on Saturday plus the fact that it's not been Arsenal scraping Over The Line in recent weeks it's been everyone they play they're literally blown them away does that as a kind of combination cause the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City who will be far more experienced than us in this type of situation obviously ly but does it cause them to to Really sort of think [ __ ] you know Arsenal could be a real big problem for us I don't know he said Metta we know the demands that we have and the demands that brenford are going to ask us uh to win the match and identify that we are still not top of the league and we want to be better than where we are at the moment and the other two are so we have to continue to win again he was asked about the outcome of that man city Liverpool game he said there he was asked if secretly he's hoping that there was a draw he said honestly it's nothing to do with me I will sit down with my kids and enjoy the match and that's kind of uh the key points he was asked a little bit about Kai havitz I do want to address this because I feel like um Kai havitz is finally getting his flowers from the not just the Arsenal fan base but from The Wider footballing world I I sat down on to sport 2 yesterday with Rory Jennings who's been so critical of Kai havs and even he had to put his hands up and say that it's working at the moment and that he's performing really really well he did kind of sour it a little bit by saying well I know that he always has a good March and you know when um when the the time comes for him to kind of stand up and be counted it'll probably shrink and disappear but to be fair it's only the eth of March mate so you know he's been pretty good through February as well and um so maybe his Purple Patch as you called it one month purple patches a little bit longer than maybe you thought or expected um but on the impact that Kai havitz is having micheletta said it shows his character as well and how he's dealt with all those question marks the attitude he showed all the time when things were not that good in certain phases of the game but continued to work hard and that's why he's loved by everybody here and then we can see his quality and Intelligence on the pitch and the contribution he's having to the team so we're very happy with him is that Michel Etta admitting maybe for the first time as clear as that that the kai havs thing has taken some time uh to work because he's always defended him on the spot as he should is his player it's a player that he um you know wanted the club to go out on a limb to get and they did that they supported the manager they got him what he wanted and um you know it seems like Mikel artetta there in that kind of uh sort of line of comment is is sort of admitting and accepting or or or sort of acknowledging the fact that maybe people were right at the early stages to say don't really know what he brings to the team etc etc but we can't we can't talk about that now because the performance levels are just so good um Declan rice has been talking publicly about wning to score more goals um and you could see in that game against Sheffield United as we discussed the other night that he was desperate wasn't he to get on the score sheet like the positions he was taking up the aggression with which he was sort of approaching the ball and wanting to get into those spaces um you know it was obvious and clear for everybody to see that he was desperate to get in on the ACT and and mich artetta was asked about Declan rice wanting more goal involvements and how that can kind of be contagious to which he said that's something that is amongst the team they want to keep improving they all believe that they have another gear or two to go to and that's the level that we want to push them to we are achieving it with the majority of the players and we have to continue to do it absolutely okay um the rest of it is you know um pretty trivial like there's some interesting bits in there um I would go through it and read it if you want I would even maybe watch the video it's probably a bit easier um but he was asked and and and I do want to touch on this point because I spoke about this on the podcast that we did after the game I talked about the fact that all these players had come on against Sheffield United like we we we were cruising we battered them by halim it was not a contest anymore yeah and and listen for me for Eddie and KY are the writings on the wall done I don't think he's an Arsenal player next season I don't think ree Nelson is an Arsenal player next season either the one of the three mentioned in this line of questioning that I think should probably get be given more of a chance is Emil Smith wrote but I said after the game against Sheffield United the fact that he didn't come on that could be quite damning actually the fact that you know okay we made the change on the right hand side because sacka was unwell and he chose Fabio Vieira fine I'm okay with that you know Fabio VI needs to build his Fitness back up and he was actually performing quite well before he picked up that injury in November there was signs that he was coming into his own and Amil Smith Row from the right hand side does that really work no so I didn't really have an issue with him making that decision the substitution that I found strange given the number of minutes that each of them have played recently was trossard coming on in Midfield in the eight position over Emil Smith row now trossard has had plenty of minutes recently yeah a lot of them have come From the Bench of course but it wasn't a case of we need to give Trad minutes to build him up we know where Leandra Trad is at but it was an opportunity to give Amil Smith row that time to maybe get a goal build up his confidence in a game that was over as a contest very very one-sided than that we were in complete control of but he chose not to do that and I found that quite interesting this is what Mikel had to say on Eddie Reese and Emil Smith row not featuring against Sheffield United he said we discussed things and we cannot play every player in every game those players played a few games ago against Newcastle and they had opportunities to do that now we have five Subs before we only had three so we have another two players happy that's the way I take it but you always have players who want to be involved and play but unfortunately it is impossible it's not in our hands it's impossible to achieve that and they know that Mikel Aletta kind of basically saying that it is what it is um sort of shut up and put up with it because that's how it's going to be and um while the team is performing and while the team is winning then nobody really has any grounds do they to be critical of Mikel arteta's approach um but I thought the Emil Smith row snub if you like at Sheffield United was quite interesting and it's another bit of evidence that sort of suggests doesn't say for sure but sort of suggests that come the summer if if the right amount of money is put on the table we might see see Emil Smith row um leave the club too but hey okay we're going to take a really short pause when we come back we're going to preview the brenford game in terms of some of the statistics around it and we're going to talk a little bit about what we can expect from Thomas Frank's side this There's something between Arsenal & Brentford! weekend okay Arsenal versus brenford Saturday evening kickoff I do think the atmosphere in the evening kickoffs is better um my favorite kickoff time is a atur 3:00 it's not too early um and it means that I can get what I need to get done earlier on in the day but it also means that I'm not back too late which means that I can come home nice and refreshed and record a podcast 5:30 I found myself kind of waiting around all day for him and I know we had an 8:00 kickoff on a Saturday a few weeks ago and that was the same you're just sitting around all day you're like you don't really want to commit to doing anything because you know you're going to head down to the emirats and it yeah it's just a little bit weird but when I got into the stadium for that 8:00 kickoff against Newcastle I thought the atmosphere was fantastic and I'm expecting a similar atmosphere tomorrow because we all know how significant this game is we all know how important it is and you know what there's a little bit of something between Arsenal and brenford that seems to have developed in recent times we were robbed against them last season with the goal that should never have stood we dropped two vital points in the title race as a result of that we had to go there and get a late winner um earlier this season through Kai havitz and yeah we we we we do struggle against them at times you know and and they are a side that set up really really well they they know you know the spaces that they need to protect and and we'll talk about what we can expect from them tactically in a little bit it is important to note that this time around brenford have a lot of players missing I don't even know how many Defenders they've got available to field but this even with that being the case and it might be that Thomas Frank has to use some Midfield players in his backline I'm still pretty confident of what I think Thomas Frank will do and I've covered brenford quite a lot over the last couple of Seasons so I'm not just kind of making this up but this is based on what I've seen and I've had a look a little bit earlier on today at what they tend to do in the bigger games shall we say so we'll get onto that uh in a little bit but um let's go over uh to the Premier League's official website and let's have a look at some of the A look at the statistics around Arsenal vs Brentford stats um around this game the history of this fixture not a very um a very much played Premier League fixture because brenford haven't been in the Premier League um throughout most of the time of its existence as a competition there have been five meetings between these two sides in premier league history Arsenal have won three of them brenford have won one and there's been one draw along the way we all remember the one brenford win it was a horrible night at the Gtech first game of the season um but since then they haven't beaten us they have managed that one draw though the draw that I referenced a little bit earlier on where yeah we were robbed if we're being honest if we look back at the last five uh well there's only been five games so this is our entire premier league history with brenford right there on your screen one- n win at the Gtech uh back in November that was one of the coldest nights I've ever sort of been at a football match I remember coming out of my hands were like I couldn't even move my fingers um the Saturday uh 11th of February 2023 draw was that controversial one I mentioned prior to that um earlier on in that season we we beat them really comfortably at the Gtech by three goals to nil and the first half performance from Arsenal that day was as good as you've seen maybe over the last two three years um Saturday 19th of February 2022 we got our revenge for that um opening night defeat earlier on in the 2122 campaign with a 21 win if you look at the form guide we're in contrasting form Arsenal have won all five of their last Premier League games because the form guide on this website does only take into consideration the last five of course Arsenal's winning runs stretches back further than that but people have been saying to me that you know during this run we've had a really favorable run of games and it's been really really easy and what did you expect yeah look we played Burnley and Sheffield United two of the Premier League's whipping boys agreed but we battered Newcastle we battered West Ham on their own patch we beat Liverpool as well so I I hate it when people try to discredit the fact that you know we're on this incredible run and almost try and pick holes in it brenford have only won one of their last five they managed a two- two draw against Chelsea last weekend pretty decent result but given that they turned the game around um from sort of being one nil down to 2-1 up and then didn't manage to take all three points they'll be quite frustrated by that um you know and the reaction from the Chelsea fans after the game said it all they weren't happy with the second half performance they weren't happy with the display there were chance to get poino out there were chance about Abramovic and all the rest of it so to Bley coming under Fire and of course uh Macio pochettino too but for brenford they they really do need the points at the moment you know there's no doubt about that they're currently in 15th Place they've only won seven of their matches this season they've drawn five and lost 15 on average they're only scoring 1.4 goals per match but they're conceding on average nearly two goals per match which is pretty poor uh they've only managed four clean sheets and they're not very high up in the chance creation numbers either um arsenal of course W 19 drawn four lost four averaging two and a half goals per game across the Premier League season so far average uh conceding on average conceding less than one a game 11 clean sheets so far nine of which belong to David ryer who is a brenford man officially still and then if I take it on to top player stats and we look at goals Bayo saaka leads the way in the Premier League for Arsenal on 13 and guess who Arsenal's second top goal scorer is in the Premier League yep you've guessed it Kai hav 60 million down the drain Kai hav scores a again hopefully we're hearing that chant again at the weekend Brian bumo is in second place I've been told it's pronounced mumo rather than Amo um but yeah anyway um he's got seven as well so he's level in joint second with Kai havit if we move over to assists Bayo saaka again leads the way with eight Martin odard is in second with six and Declan rice from Deep having a big Creative Impact for Arsenal this season with five in the Premier League and if we take it across to the final uh metric which is tackles Christian norgard of brenford leads the way he's got 73 that's the almost 20 more tackles than Declan rice um and and I know when you have more possession you have you know you make less tackles simple um but Dean rice is is in second and third which this surpr surprises me kind of every time I look at this every preview we do every week building up to a game I'm always like sacka high up in the tackles chart what's that about but it shows you what he does not just in the opposition box and in and around that area it shows you that he brings you something else as well and it also highlights the fact that Arsenal like to defend from the front so that was our statistical preview of Arsenal's meeting with brenford this weekend let's go over um to uh the live chat because there's Questions from the live chat box (part one) plenty coming through uh big good morning to everybody um who is uh joining us uh live at this moment in time and and everybody that will be watching or listening to this back a little bit later on lots more Hallows which is lovely to see um thank you guys uh Peter says morning Harry always loved your coverage on Arsenal and the podcast keep going my fellow Greek brother thank you mate um big shout out to you as well Oso abon he's very confident he says good morning Harry we're going to top the League this week I hope so Dave Daman says uh wow brilliant bonus with the anfield preview yeah we're going to do that too it's really important so I think we should um what else have we got uh Damian says come to Jamaica and eat some Aki and saltfish you know what love to uh the Jordi gona says nice to catch you live H missed you Monday on the short trip back to Sheffield um good to see you mate Rowan is joining us and says morning or finally able to watch a live show keep up the great work car I have to say like I do apologize that the timings of some of these shows are just all over the place it's just it's I've tried on numerous occasions those that have been listening for a while will know this I've tried on numerous occasions to try and stick to some kind of routine but what that means is then I would sometimes put out content that is out of date I'd put out content without capturing maybe a big story that dropped an hour after I released it or whatever so that's part of it but the other thing is work is just so kind of fluid like my wife absolutely hates the fact that I make plans with the family and then sometimes I have to drop them um because work comes in it's the life of of the job that I do and and it can be a little bit unpredictable and and that can be frustrating for the people around you and I can imagine it's frustrating for you guys that you want to wake up if it's something that you listen to on a daily basis and you want to know what time it's going to be available and you want to make sure that you get to listen to it etc etc but it just isn't always possible for me so I do apologize about that okay um Tom says Harry is it what was left unsaid by Etta um that speaks volumes he said they got minutes but kind of hints that they didn't take advantage just touching on the comments with regards to like Smith row and um Nelson and and and CA yeah maybe um I don't think any of them have done anything that you would look at and say well now now I've got a headache now I've got a problem like nobody's given him and I'm talking about that group of players specifically a selection headache um add to that that in particular with Emil Smith row he can't seem to trust his Fitness and that he's going to be available for a a sustain period of time to kind of work him back up to the point that he wants to be yeah I think I think you got to be ruthless at this level like and you know if two years ago you told me that this was going to be the case with aill Smith R I'd be outraged but I've seen the evolution of the team and the development of the team and unfortunately not through a lack of talent but largely due to a a lack of being available he's been left behind a little bit and somebody asked me a question yesterday which I thought was really really interesting about Alexander zinenko like what does the future hold for zinenko and we saw some reports suggesting that he's a target for Bayern and a couple of other clubs on the continent and and I just think to myself like we might well get to the point like when Timber's back when Tommy ashy's back that zenchenko isn't seen as a vital part of the team anymore and therefore we have to move him on and if we do that's because the teams evolved and progressed that doesn't take away from the impact that he's had though because him and jayus were massive in terms of living uh lifting a beg your pardon the base level of this team zenchenko and jayus arriving at the football club with a winning mentality from a winning side with bags and bags of talent bags and bags of quality they were huge in the step forward that we took last season that is undeniable now we might progress further and leave those guys behind but I will never disrespect either of them because I recognize their contribution to Arsenal's progress as a team and that's how it should be you should acknowledge and respect what people bring to the table but in order to keep maintaining that level and keep progressing further you will need to be ruthless at times and with both of those players jayus and zinenko that I've mentioned it's nothing to do with Talent if they're moved on it won't be anything to do with Talent it will be to do with the fact that Fitness is a constant problem for them and you can't rely on players that can't rely on their bodies essentially that's just the way it goes and listen there'll be players that never pick up injuries and all of a sudden pick up a bad one and they're out for a year and you're stuck and you're up [ __ ] Street that's how it goes but if some is constantly breaking down you do as a manager need to think about that impact that that has on your plans um afsar G we're going to do some more um questions a little bit later on but there's a few good ones in the chat so I want to address them now afsar says do you think ramsdell's form will be affected due to a lack of games um this season I mean it isn't going to be easy to come in and just come in hold you know he hasn't played since the last time we played brenford right um you know it's I'm talking about in the Premier League it's it's and that was November it's not going to be easy to come in out of the cold but ramsdale is a good enough goalkeeper and if we defend the way we've been defending and we limit what the goalkeeper has to do in terms of making saves and coming and catching crosses then we'll be okay I think his distribution is going to be important and I don't think ramsdale was the worst in the world at that I think ryer is slightly better but I don't think ramsdale was ever particularly bad at that so I think stylistically ramale brings you a lot of the same things um and that's why I'm not as worried about the change as I would be if we brought Matt Turner in for example like we would have done last season so having two top goalkeepers is great but you need two top goalkeepers that can do the same things and that can you know provide some continuity in terms of the way that you want to play if you've got a goalkeeper all of a sudden that doesn't want the ball at his feet but you've been training week after week after week trying to build out from the back or doing it with lots of trust you don't want to then have to start trying to break habits on the spot because you have a goalkeeper that isn't equipped to do what you want ryer is better in with some of those things I I would definitely say that but I don't think that we'd be going into the game on Saturday and going well ramsdale is playing so now we can't pass to the goalkeeper in X situation we can't um move the ball through the lines via the goalkeeper in y situation because we've got a goalkeeper that can do most of those things look I will come back to the questions a little bit later on in the show so keep them up your sleeve and um and we'll come back to some of those a little bit later on what I do want to do now is talk a little bit about what we can expect from What can we expect from Brentford? brenford what can we expect from Thomas Frank's side well first of all a low block um surprise surprise we've had a few of those to deal with this season haven't we Thomas Frank side will be turning up at the emirat stadium on Saturday knowing that any sort of positive result would give him a huge confidence boost and that could be key in terms of their chances of survival this year I find it difficult to comprehend the fact that they're down there because I think they're a much better team than where their league position shows and having covered some of their games this season I think their performances have been better than some of the result that they've picked up as well but they are where they are and injuries have played a big big part in that Ivan Tony's back now and he's been a thorn in our side in the past but I think given the distances um that we seem to keep teams from our penalty area these days I think we can limit Ivan Tony's impact if we are clever and if we do things right they will try and play into him and get runners in and around him whether that be Visa I don't know if MMO's fit um but you know they do have players that like to play off of Ivan Tony and we got to be careful uh with that but I think we've got a set of Defenders now that I'm quite confident can get across the ground quick enough and can win the initial aerial Jewels uh that maybe we weren't winning two or three years ago three years ago when we turned up at brenford and got absolutely battered on their first um you know game in the Premier League so I'm feeling quite confident that we can handle them in terms of breaking them down I talked about the fact that they got lots and lots of defensive players missing I still expect Thomas Frank to go with a back five um and then with that sort of protective three in front of them if anybody watched the game against Sheffield United on Monday night and thinks that a back four is the way to go at the Emirates you're mad and I don't think that Thomas Frank would do something so silly now the only way way he might sort of be forced if you like into playing with a back four is if he really doesn't have the defensive Personnel available and if he thinks that actually playing some of those guys out of position is going to be more of a hindrance than a help than you might see him play with a back four but I think if he can he's going to play with a back five he's going to play with that protective three in the middle and then he's going to try and use Ivan Tony as an outlet with a Visa or an mumo whoever's available running in off of him what I really don't want to see at any stage in the game at the weekend is Neil morai because I don't want anybody to lose their heads with him and get suspended we know he loves winding people up it's all he talks about he doesn't really play much football these days Neil morai that's what he's more interested in is getting under people's skin and winding them up but that's what I expect from brenford a low block a back five and they will try and hang in the game for as long as possible it's important it's really important the Arsenal start fast move the ball quickly do things with quality do things with zip and Tempo and if we can get that breakthrough in the first 20 minutes of the game then I think we'll be in a really really good position to then go on and win the game and win it quite comfortably but what you don't want is it to be one of those games where they hold on they waste time they run down the clock the frustration sets in with the crowd because we're all desperate to get three points again this weekend and when you look at our remaining fixtures well this is one that you simply have to win there's no excuses here um just like there wasn't at Sheffield United the other night and you know thankfully we went and and done the job there and done it quite quickly but yeah this is going to be a fascinating game uh in terms of how brenford are going to look to try and nullify our threat I keep talking about us attack him with that front five and we need to do that and we need to do that well in this game because I think we're probably going to face a back five so you won't have the extra man that we did um at times against Sheffield United and and that ultimately proved not to be their down for CU I think we'd have beaten them anyway whether they play with a back five or not I mean I think we scored like four of the six goals after they changed to a back five but the point was you know it might have been a little bit more difficult to find that initial breakthrough had they done things in my opinion a different way but hey that's what I expect from Thomas Frank brenford this The starting XI that should face the Bees! weekend okay let me share with you guys the lineup that I would pick um for the game at the weekend and I guess you know to put it simply and to kind of you know just talk about it for what it is I'd probably go with the same team you know I'd go with ramsdale in goal this time obviously that change has to happen no doubt about that my back four would be made up of Kore Gabrielle CBA and white I play with georgino odard and rice in the Midfield because I like I like letting Declan rice off the leash I I like having him drive into those more advanced areas and I think against a strong physical team like brenford who are probably going to play with a low block Declan Rice's runs from deep and and his power as he sort of carries the ball into those types of areas might be a really really good weapon I'd continue with havs up front I I think jayus looked Rusty the other day um I wouldn't bring him back into the side if there's any doubt over Martinelli I'd play trossard um but if Martinelli's fit then i' play Martinelli um and if there's any doubt over Bayo Saka I bring in jayus on the right that's what I would do personally so my team for those of you listening on audio to face brenford providing that all of these players are available is Aaron ramale in goal white CBA Gabrielle and Kier across the back georgino rice and odard in Midfield with Martinelli hav and sacka in attack if there's any doubt over Martinelli trar comes in if there's any doubt over Saka Jus comes in on that right hand side side for me um parte got some minutes the other night against Sheffield United my God he looked Rusty he looked like he hadn't played football in about 10 years at Thomas po it's it's to be expected I understand it not digging the guy out for it but this is one of those situations where we kind of need to build the player back up and aside from the obvious reasons why you'd want the game done and dusted nice and early to be relaxed to be more comfortable to take your foot off the gas ahead of a big game against Porto on Tuesdays well it's big old week for the Gunners isn't it um I'd quite like to have the opportunity to bring Thomas parte on and let him have a bit a bit of a run about a bit of a kick about and and start to build up his Fitness because I think he's going to be key in the running I really do I think to have him available is such a big boost but we need the best version of Thomas parte and through no thought of his own because of the fact that he's been out for so long he's just nowhere near that at this moment and I think despite all the positives um on Monday night and all the sort of excitement around these turn it was a bit of a reality check because you looked at him and you thought bloody L you are so far off it Thomas and we're going to need to do a lot of work to get you back to where you need to be but that is the team I would pick to face brenford this weekend at Emirates Arsenal vs Brentford prediction Stadium okay prediction H I'm going to go for Arsenal 3 brenford nil that's what I'm going to go with um I think we will have enough I think we should have enough I think this is a very different brenford side in that the confidence isn't quite there and they're missing a lot of key players defensively in particular um so yeah I'm going to go for an Arsenal 3 nil win let me know your predictions and thoughts um in the live chat yeah get them in let's hear from you okay uh short pause and then we're going to talk about that other big game this weekend huge game on Sunday Liverpool taking on Manchester Liverpool vs Man City preview City okay so I've been banging on loads about how for me as long as we've done our job it is what it is on Sunday right you you can't obsess over something that you have zero control over it's not as black and white as if Liverpool win Arsenal are going to win the league if Man City win Arsenal going to win the league if there's a draw Arsenal going to win the league so I don't have this like massive preference as to what happens here I think you can look at it and you can find positives in every single outcome Liverpool are top of the league right now they're the furthest ahead of us so if Manchester City beat them then we go and get a result against Manchester City things look very very different happy days if Liverpool beat Manchester City and deal Manchester City a big blow in their title hopes and then we go and get a result at Manchester City next week having of course hopefully beaten brenford then you know Manchester City have have had a big kick in the balls essentially and Arsenal will now be looking at Liverpool and hoping to catch a Liverpool side that I don't think are as good as this Manchester City side and I think have been riding their luck a little bit at times a bit like we were last season and I just wonder if that's sustainable if it's a draw it does damage to both of them so whichever outcome we see on Sunday there are positives for arsenal we are winning you know we sorry we've got an opportunity to put another three points on the board go top of the league at least temporarily and then one of or both of these two sides are going to drop points at the weekend it is a win-win situation for Arsenal if you're asking me what my preference is it's the draw second choice would probably be the Liverpool win now that might sound wild because of the way the table looks at the moment but going back to that point I made a few minutes ago about in my view Liverpool not looking as strong Liverpool looking like a side that have at times rode their luck a little bit not being as strong maybe away from home um as they are at home I think there's a big disparity between the Liverpool that you get at anfield and the Liverpool that you see Rock up everywhere else they' had some close shaves away from home I just yeah I I think that Liverpool are more catchable could be famous last words but that's just what my gut tells me going into this weekend and yeah that that those would be my preferences the draw first the Liverpool win second the Manchester City win third um but yeah it's um it's one that I say I want to enjoy it I don't think I can fully enjoy it because I've got skin in the game indirectly this impacts Arsenal quite a bit if we do our job then I I can at least tolerate any outcome and accept any outcome without feeling any sense of regret and that's really really important because you don't want to be in that situation where you're on a bit of a downer as a result of something that was out of your control and if for example the two of them draw and we do beat brenford and we go top of the league and then we stay top of the league we can go out on Tuesday night against Porto knowing that the league is on ice for a bit and we've then got an nice break after Porto and we can give it our absolute all to turn that tie around and if we do that the confidence is only going to grow the confidence is only going to grow so yeah um I mean tactically how do you preview this game really difficult um to know what the pattern of the game is going to look like City are probably going to have more of the ball City are in far better Nick when it comes to injuries and players available I think City would have been fired up by Trent Alexander Arnold's comments in in the week which I thought were totally unnecessary and only um serve to to sort of inspire Manchester City and and give them an extra incentive in my mind it didn't make any sense to me he said that Liverpool's success will mean more to the fans orbe it less well he said they've probably been more more successful than us no mate they haven't probably been more successful they absolutely have been more successful than you and by quite some distance as well but I just think like to to come out and say something like it means more to our fans I kind of get that because a lot of us have talked about the fact that if and it is an if Manchester City are found guilty um of breaching the rules on 115 counts as is is sort of what they're alleged to have done then you go you know it is tarnished but those fans still enjoyed those moments those fans still enjoyed that success and you're not going to be able to take that away from them even if the trophy um or the title essentially is stripped from them or they're relegated you can't take away what they enjoyed as a group of fans so I I just thought it was a totally unnecessary comment to make from chent Alexander I know was probably one that will fire Manchester City up and earling harand said well you know I won the treble last year I don't know that Trent Alexander Arnold and those players know what that feels like he sort of fired shots back so it's a bit of spice at going into this one I say that City are in much better condition than they are and and the players they have available you know make them I'm not going to say favorites but make them quite likely winners the anfield factor does that even it out it probably does because City have a miserable record at anfield I think they've only won two of their last 32 I read somewhere yesterday now that might not be 100% correct but I certainly read that yesterday that's a miserable record for a side that have been as good and as dominant as Manchester City have for a number of years now so just to to recap my preference is a draw my second preference you might think this is mad is Liverpool to win and my third choice would be Man City to win but if Arsenal do their job on Saturday evening and take all three points against brenford I will tolerate and live with any other outcome I can handle it and I won't feel regret and I won't feel disappointed unless the the result that I wanted as first choice was in the bag and then something happened in the 97th 998th minute and changed that I don't know maybe but what we're going to do as well because this game is so kind of intrinsically linked with Arsenal at this moment in time and our hopes and aspirations of going on to win the Premier League title I'm going to bring you a reaction podcast live here on YouTube and it'll be available uh to all our listeners of course uh in audio format first thing on Monday morning where we are going to actually I'll release it Sunday night I'll release it Sunday night as soon as we finish recording it where we're going to react to that game we're going to talk about that game the lessons learned from that game I think that's going to be really really interesting not quite what we normally do but I think in this instance we can make an exception because um this is a game that does have huge implications on the Arsenal I am going to leave it there um thank you so so much for joining me in fact I say I'm going to leave it there I'm going to leave it there in terms of my agenda I'm going to take a couple of questions though from the live chat um before I sign out so please if you've got anything that you want to ask Chuck them in there and I'll pick up a couple of those before uh I go not on talk sport 2 today um did the shift yesterday instead swapped around and um had the pleasure of uh hosting the buildup to the Liverpool spart PR game it's only the second second time I've ever hosted um the buildup to uh a match live on the radio um I'm normally a reporter at a match um or part of a team in a buildup or whatever but this was the first time I was hosting it well no second time sorry I did Manchester United earlier in the season as well um I thought maybe I'd Jinx Liverpool but I didn't because they won 5-1 but anyway um I know a lot of you that are in the chat box were listening in yesterday um and a few of you sent me messages um so thank you for that it is really really appreciate it Questions from the live chat box (part two) okay let's take this question from AJ Envoy Harry how do you think we should approach the game against brunford knowing we have Porto on Tuesday should we aim to Blitz brenford early so we can R rest some key players I think that should always be the aim to to try and take the game away from an opponent as early as you possibly can and I think we've seen artet as Arsenal do that a lot over the last couple of years so yeah I think that will be the approach and in an ideal world would get to do exactly what you said take a few players off give them a rest Saturday evening to Tuesday is quite a quick turnaround um you know I don't even know if there will be a training session in between will there be a training Sunday will probably be about recovery um Monday there'll probably be a light training session with the game to come on Tuesday so yeah if you can give those guys a rest then it'll be great uh yomi says if we don't beat Porto would you start looking at the possibility of getting another manager no um it's not as black and white for me as if Arsenal don't get through FC Porto then they need to start looking for a new manager I hate that stuff because there are so many variables in football there are some things in the game that are totally unacceptable and Arsenal finishing eth for example I understood why people were saying that was totally unacceptable and understand why people were making noise at that point that they wanted artetta gone I couldn't get my head around people that wanted him out at the end of last season because I don't think it was through any thought of his own that we failed to win the Premier League title just the circumstances seemed to kind of you know all come against us and I I think we like we haven't been in the Champions League for seven eight years and all of a sudden everybody thinks that we're going to go all the way and that teams like Porto who are in it year and year out should just be swept aside I'll be massively disappointed if we don't get through because I think we are good enough talented enough anyway to go far in this competition but we know that football um doesn't work like that we know that there are other factors you know there are other things at play like Real Madrid the other night were rubbish against RB leig as we discussed on yesterday's pod but Real Madrid you know being bad that's not enough for them to be eliminated RB Leipzig have to do their bit and take their chances and unfortunately they didn't so they're the ones that crash out sometimes it's about composure it's about mentality um you're going to face different tactical Styles and challenges that you're not used to um when you're playing on the continent and over time as a manager um you know you will hopefully develop and learn that and I've always said this if there was one thing I don't think michelet has nailed since coming to Arsenal it's the European thing I think he struggled in that and I'm talking not just about the champions league but in the Europa League too where we've been dumped out and eliminated by sides that we were nowhere near on the same level with you know Olympiacos via we were better than both of those sides and both of those sides dumped us out Frankfurt you know if you go back a little bit further under under Emory you know it's it's not enough just to be talented um in Europe you need to do more um you need to develop a mentality you need to develop the knowhow the experience you have to understand that the game you're going to play is a very different one look how stop and start the PTO game was look how they you know grouped together and ganged up on us in order to try and you know disrupt uset peace routines by throwing themselves to the ground um you know taking an age to to kick the ball to pass the ball like everything was was designed to disrupt Arsenal and they look to disrupt in a different way to your Premier League outfit so you have to find different solutions I will be gutted if we don't make it through because I think this is a score line that is more than um salvageable but at the same time I as much as I'll be disappointed and I'll probably pull apart the performance if we don't make it I'm not going to sit there and say sack michetta while we're we're engulfed in a race come on that would be a nonsense to me okay uh guys I am going to leave it there thank you all so so much for joining me really really appreciate it we'll be back on Sunday morning with a review of the brenford game and then we'll be back on trying to think here you know what we'll be we'll try and do the brenford review on Saturday evening and we'll then bring you a reaction to Liverpool versus City on Sunday evening and then on Monday we turn our attentions to that big game against Porto as well so loads and loads of content to come make sure you're subscribed make sure you leave a like on the video if you haven't done so already really really does help and if you're listening on audio please do leave us a review we'll be back with more uh Arsenal chat of course over the weekend uh and I'll see you all very very soon up the Arsenal goodbye