Brentford vs Arsenal Premier League Match Preview
This will be the first league meeting between Brentford and Arsenal since May 1947, a match the Gunners won 1-0 at Griffin Park.
Arsenal have won just one of their six visits to Brentford in all competitions (D1 L4), though this will be the first such meeting since May 1947.
Brentford will be the 50th different team to play in the Premier League, and the 10th from London. Just 11 of the previous 49 participants have won their first ever game in the competition (D15 L23), while no side from the capital has won their first ever Premier League game (D5 L4).
When kicking off their Premier League season away from home, Arsenal are unbeaten in seven games (W5 D2) since losing 0-1 at Sunderland in the 2000-01 campaign. The Gunners began last season with a 3-0 victory away against promoted side Fulham.
Brentford against Arsenal is only the third ever game in Premier League history to be played on Friday the 13th – the other two games were in April 2001, with Bradford City winning 2-0 against Charlton Athletic and Leeds United beating Liverpool 2-1.
In English top-flight history, Arsenal (47%) and Brentford (43%) have the two highest win rates in London derby matches. The Gunners have played 700 such games (329 wins) while Brentford have played just 28 (12 wins).
This is the fourth time Arsenal have been involved in the opening game of a Premier League campaign, winning the other three against West Brom (2008-09), Leicester (2017-18) and Fulham (2020-21). Meanwhile, this is the third season in a row in which the opening fixture has featured a promoted side, with those sides losing by three goals in the previous two (Norwich 1-4 Liverpool, Fulham 0-3 Arsenal).
Brentford’s Community Stadium will be the 60th different ground to host a Premier League match. So far, Arsenal have won at 53 of the 59, with only Liverpool (57) and Man Utd (54) winning at more.
Including the play-offs, Brentford striker Ivan Toney was directly involved in 43 Championship goals during the 2020-21 season (33 goals, 10 assists). Toney made two Premier League appearances in 2015-16 for Newcastle United, both five-minute substitute appearances against Chelsea and Manchester United. He could become the second player to make his first three Premier League appearances against each of Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd, after goalkeeper Bernard Lama in March 1998 for West Ham.
Arsenal’s Nicolas Pépé finished last season scoring five goals in three games, netting a brace in the Gunners’ final two games of the season. The only Arsenal player to score 2+ goals in three consecutive Premier League games is Robin van Persie, who did so in October 2011.
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