Thomas Frank has played up the task that his Brentford team face when they travel to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon. After beating Southampton and keeping clean sheets in their last three games, the Bees are exactly the type of opponent Arsenal won't have wanted to face right now.
Mikel Arteta's men have had their confidence take a hit in the past fortnight, losing to Manchester City in the FA Cup before then falling to a more damaging league defeat to Everton last weekend. Although the Spaniard said he loves his team more for the experience, there will be an undeniable feeling.
Paul Merson has labelled this game the biggest of Arsenal's season - though he will likely say the same about their hosting of Man City on Wednesday night, too. But that misses the point. Brentford are aggressive, compact, willing to play without possession and, for a team that have had such good home results against top sides, boast a solid away record too.
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Now, Frank does insist his side are underdogs, heaping praise on Arsenal - especially their previous missing piece. "I think it’s big credit to Arsenal, I think maybe it was [William] Saliba who came back this summer [from his loan with Marseille]. He was maybe the missing link," he said before the game.
"With [Oleksandr] Zinchenko and [Gabriel] Jesus, I think that was three important players [who weren't at Arsenal last season]. With that, [Gabriel] Martinelli, [Bukayo] Saka and also [Martin] Odegaard, even that he is a little bit more experienced. You know, they are a year older, one more year in that culture, that group, that style of play.
"And it is all just clicking. It is almost like Liverpool. I don’t know what position they finished before they became champions [in 2020]. But that season they became champions, wasn’t that the season where [Virgil] van Dijk and Alisson came? More or less.
"So just two missing links and then ‘boom!’ that completed the jigsaw. That’s just perfect. Maybe it’s a little bit the same here."
That is one of the highest compliments to pay a side. Jurgen Klopp's Reds did effectively come from nowhere with some excellent recruitment to be consistent challengers at the top level domestically and in Europe across four seasons. Arsenal are at the start of their journey but their impressive transfers, patience in Arteta and now performances on the pitch have created a similar illusion.
Such is the test they will pose to Brentford, Frank thinks his side will have to be better than they ever been. "I always believe that we can win, but - and it’s a big but - we’re facing Arsenal who are top of the league," he added.
"They have been going from strength to strength and they are in a fantastic position. It’s well deserved that they are top of the league. They look in sync and they have all their key players fit and available. At home they play with an unbelievable intensity.
"To get anything out of this game we need to top perform" he added. "We’ll probably need the best performance we’ve ever put out in a Premier League game."
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