Three Things We Learned After Arsenal Beat Brentford 

Another London derby proved a close-run affair as the Gunners moved their lead back to five points at the summit of the Premier League.

1 - The return of Benny Blanco:

– Ben White has been through a torrid time with injuries and then, having returned to fitness he has had to sit on the sidelines as Jurrien Timber has excelled in his place at right back.

However, Wednesday night saw the welcome sight of White starting this game and it was his fine cross which found Mikel Merino to head us in front after eleven minutes. He was excellent defensively throughout and always offers a great deal going forward.

With Cristian Mosquera’s injury further reducing our options at centre back, Timber will be asked to partner Piero Hincapie with White set for a prolonged run in defence.

2 - Merino continuing to shine in attack:

– Mikel Merino scored the first goal and made the second for Bukayo Saka as he has now recorded an incredible 30 goal contributions in 2025 for club and country – 21 goals and nine assists.

In his last four Premier League games alone he has two goals and three assists. In truth, after scoring with a powerful downward header in the opening fifteen minutes, he could have had a hat trick as Caoimhin Kelleher fumbled a couple of shots into the Spainard’s path. It almost seems harsh to criticise a player who had never played upfront before he answered Mikel Arteta’s call to arms last season as once again the club suffered a striker injury crisis.

The greatest compliment I can pay Merino is that is he now starting as Arsenal’s striker on merit, Viktor Gyokeres is fit and a great option on the bench and Gabriel Jesus is finding his fitness via behind closed doors friendlies. For Kai Havertz the road back to the first team remains a long one.

3 - Excelling in adversity:

– Our game against the Bees saw Arteta made several changes to freshen up the starting eleven in a period of three games a week in a relentless run.

Already without both Gabriel and Wiliam Saliba, Mosquera joined them in the treatment room before half time. Just like Gabriel, the prognosis seems to be a couple of months out for Mosquera.

Not only do we seem to suffer far more injuries than any other team, they are often relatively long term and always seem to happen in the same area of the pitch, we have been suffering a lack of attacking players which is just starting to ease only to now incur injuries to three of our centre backs.

Despite this, we still managed to record a clean sheet, our fourteenth of the season.

We also extended our unbeaten run to eighteen games in all competitions. All eyes now turn to a very tough looking fixture at Villa Park.