Brentford v Arsenal predictions: Back Gunners to edge tough contest with Bees

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Brentford v Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Premier League & Main Event, midday Sunday

Best bets

Arsenal to win 2-1
1pt 8-1 bet365, Hills

Bukayo Saka to be first goalscorer
1pt 15-2 BoyleSports

Team news

Brentford
Sergi Canos, Ethan Pinnock and Christian Norgaard are likely to miss out again.

Arsenal
Thomas Partey and Cedric Soares will be assessed. Emile Smith Rowe, Mohamed Elneny and Reiss Nelson are sidelined.

Match preview

Brentford beat Arsenal 2-0 on the opening night of the 2021-22 Premier League season and the Gunners can expect another tricky examination when they take on Thomas Frank's side in west London.

The Bees took full advantage of an Arsenal team in disarray at the start of last term but the visitors are in far better shape this time around, having kicked off their campaign with five straight league victories.

That winning streak came to an end with a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford where Arteta admitted that his young forwards "were not ruthless enough in front of goal".

There was not much wrong with Arsenal's all-round performance against United, though, as they had 16 attempts at goal to their hosts' ten and enjoyed 61 per cent of possession and they have been well backed to make it six wins out of seven at Brentford.

The Bees have shown no early signs of second-season syndrome and their fans have already witnessed a couple of glorious displays at home as they thumped Manchester United 4-0 and Leeds 5-2.

Ivan Toney, who scored a hat-trick against Leeds, has earned a first England call-up after a fine start to the campaign and Brentford's only defeat was a 3-2 loss at local rivals Fulham, where they battled back from 2-0 down before conceding an injury-time goal.

An entertaining clash between two confident teams looks likely. Both teams have scored in five of Brentford's six league matches as well as in Arsenal's last four games in all competitions and a 2-1 victory for the Gunners looks a tempting correct-score bet in a tricky heat.

Each of the Gunners' last three wins in all competitions were by that scoreline – home league victories over Fulham and Aston Villa as well as a Europa League success away to FC Zurich.

Arteta's side should have beaten Villa by a more comfortable margin as Bukayo Saka missed a couple of excellent chances before setting up Gabriel Martinelli's second-half winner.

Saka broke his duck for the season at Old Trafford, sweeping in from close range on the hour mark with one of his four efforts at the United goal. He also had three shots against Villa and got into some dangerous positions against Fulham, whose goalkeeper Bernd Leno made a smart save to deny his former teammate.

The England youngster is also one of Arsenal's main penalty-takers, converting from the spot in wins over United and Chelsea towards the end of last season, and he merits a bet to open the scoring at the Brentford Community Stadium.

Key stat

Arsenal have conceded at least once in eight of their last ten Premier League wins.

Inside info

Brentford

Penalty taker Ivan Toney
Assist ace Bryan Mbeumo
Set-piece aerial threat Ben Mee
Card magnet Aaron Hickey

Arsenal

Penalty taker Bukayo Saka
Assist ace Gabriel Jesus
Set-piece aerial threat Gabriel
Card magnet Granit Xhaka

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