Thomas Frank would have been pleased to see Brentford stop a horrible rot of five successive defeats in their draw against Crystal Palace despite being the better side against the Eagles.
It was gritty and hard-fought and on another day, the Bees might have found a way to claim all three points. Frank also would have pleased with a clean sheet; Brentford's first in the league since beating Everton on November 28.
The back three, in particular, were superb dealing with Palace's attacking threat in Wilfried Zaha and Odsonne Edouard. David Raya didn't have much to do in the contest, but the Spaniard made a superb save to deny Joachim Anderson with virtually the last kick of the game with Jean Phillipe-Mateta almost pouncing.
Barring Covid-19 or injury, Raya and the back-three of Kristoffer Ajer, Pontus Jansson and Ethan Pinnock are all but assured places in the starting line-up for Saturday's London derby at Arsenal.
However, Frank might face a selection dilemma in two positions. One of them being at right-wing back; Mads Roerslev was dropped for the visit of Palace with Sergi Canos moving back to his familiar position. Canos' display left an awful lot to be desired and it was harsh that the Dane was dropped, despite conceding a penalty in last week's defeat against Manchester City.
Roerslev has always given 100% when starting, and dropping him would not have done his confidence any good whatsoever. He should come back in ahead of the trip to the Emirates, having done well against Pep Guardiola's side last week.
Christian Norgaard and Vitaly Janelt are certain to start on the weekend, but the question is who will partner them in the trio?
Mathias Jensen was better against the Eagles, but many fans are frustrated with his inconsistent performances and with players coming back who happen to play in central midfield; would they be better off starting someone else?
It was intriguing to see Frank Onyeka as an unused substitute against Palace, despite playing 70 minutes in the defeat against City last week. Was this an indication of Frank rotating his midfield and keeping bodies fresh ahead of Arsenal? If the Nigerian is fit and ready to go, he should start.
He provides energy and is forward-thinking with the ball, driving forward when possible. If he starts, then not many Bees fans will be complaining with that decision.
Other options include Shandon Baptiste and Josh Dasilva. Baptiste came on last week towards the end whilst Dasilva got over 30 minutes under his belt.
Here's how football.london thinks Brentford will line-up this Saturday at the Emirates - comment your preferred starting XI.
Predicted Brentford XI vs Arsenal: Raya; Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock; Roerslev, Onyeka, Norgaard, Janelt, Henry; Toney, Mbeumo.
Squad: Fernandez, Lössl, Mads Bech, Stevens, Baptiste, Eriksen*, Jensen, Dasilva, Canos, Wissa.
