Mikel Arteta says Arsenal 'always suffer against Brentford' ahead of Saturday's clash

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said that he expects a tough game against Brentford as he faced the media ahead of Saturday's home game.

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal 'always suffer against Brentford' ahead of Saturday's clash
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta during his pre-Brentford press conference (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
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By Jak Netting

Arsenal will be hoping to record their eighth consecutive Premier League win on Saturday, when they face Brentford at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners are in a superb vein of form, having scored 21 goals in their last four Premier League games, while conceding just one league goal during this run.

The visitors, Brentford, are enduring a vastly different run of form, having won just one of their last seven games, and have so far already lost 1-0 twice, both at home, to Mikel Arteta's side this season.

Despite this, the Spaniard urged caution, insisting: "We’ve played them twice already and we suffered, we always suffer against Brentford. On Saturday I expect a really similar match."

Here is the rest of what the 41-year-old had to say ahead of Saturday's game.

  • Team news

Arteta gave a positive update on his squad, confirming that there are no fresh issues and offering optimism over the fitness of both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

He said: "We got some players back last Monday, and then we had [Gabriel] Martinelli and Bukayo [Saka] with little issues but we are pretty positive that hopefully they can be part of that but we’ll have to wait and see how they are tomorrow."

  • Aaron Ramsdale's return

David Raya has assumed the starting role in goal for much of this season, but is ineligible to face his parent club - due to being on loan from Brentford.

This hands a rare opportunity for Ramsdale to start, having not done so in the league since the Gunners' last game against Brentford, back in November, where he kept a clean sheet despite having little to do in the game.

Asked about Ramsdale's playing time so far this season, Arteta said: "It is what it is, he is fully prepared, he trains really well every day. He is desperate to play like the rest of the boys who haven’t had that many opportunities and Saturday is a great day for him."

He went on to praise the attitude of the England international, saying: "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."

  • Full focus on Brentford and not elsewhere

Arteta was also asked whether or not he is thinking about the Liverpool vs Man City game, but insisted that he only cares about Arsenal's game: "That's [Arsenal's game] the only thing we can control - perform well, play better than them and earn the right to win the game.

"Let’s do that and if we do that then on Sunday it's a beautiful game to watch for any football supporter, and I will certainly be watching it."

He went on to reiterate that he does not particularly care about the result in the other game, owing to the fact that he cannot influence it: "I can't control it [the other result]. I will 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 Brentford."

  • Sending a message to title rivals

A win against Brentford would, at least temporarily, see Arsenal go top of the Premier League table for the first time since game week 18.

Asked about the pressure that this would put on other teams fighting for the title, Arteta responded: "We know the demands that we have and the demands that Brentford are going to ask us 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."

He was also asked whether the club's recent resounding league results (winning 6-0, 4-1, 5-0 and 6-0 in their last four games) are sending a message to Arsenal's title rivals.

While not speaking directly about other teams, Arteta did speak very highly of his own side: "It's great because it shows the quality and the consistency that the team is showing.

The way that we have scored those goals as well, not only the manner but as well the personnel is a really positive thing to see. Then there’s the fact that we are conceding very little defensively so those ingredients together are very powerful to get results and consistency and we want more."

  • Experience is key

When asked about what has changed between this season and last, the Spaniard pointed to the experience of his squad, saying: "Experience is a factor. They have played more together as well, and understand the system better.

"They understand the way we have to compete and the demands that we have to put on ourselves better, and then the confidence grows when results go their way and the performance is good as well."

  • Transfer updates

The Gunners' boss was also asked a series of questions about the upcoming transfer window, and whether a potential deal for Ivan Toney can be ruled out.

He responded as you may expect, insisting: "I don’t talk about any other player because if not I have to be ruling out every player in the market because we are linked with a lot of players. That’s it."

He was also quizzed over whether or not the team's current rich goalscoring record has changed his mind about needing to sign a forward this summer, but Arteta said: "No, the plans that we have for the summer are very clear and were done almost at the start of the season, understanding what we can have, the contract situations that we have with some players and how we want to improve and maintain the level of the team. This [our recent goalscoring form] certainly has not changed anything."