These are the types of games that Arsenal have to win if they want to lift the Premier League trophy at the end of the season. City’s historic win at Anfield over the weekend has reignited a race that many felt was drifting to the direction of North London, so Arsenal will be well aware of the pressure and expectation that surrounds this clash.

In previous failed title attempts under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal dropped cheap points in these sorts of games. The Gunners look more solid this time around to handle this sort of awkward fixture and come into this clash having won their last four matches across all competitions.

This is one of the most admirable aspects of Arteta’s side. After every setback, they seem to find a way to put together a solid run - Arsenal have only lost three games in the Premier League this season, with these defeats coming against Aston Villa, Liverpool, and Manchester United via last-minute goals. We can conclude from this record that it takes a near-perfect performance and a bit of luck to overturn this Arsenal side.

Furthermore, Arsenal have an excellent recent record against Brentford, which may aid them from a psychological point of view. Arsenal have avoided defeat against the Bees in each of the last nine head-to-head meetings between the sides, and ran out 2-0 winners when the sides clashed at the Emirates earlier in the campaign.

I’ve been impressed with Kelleher at times this season. He’s solidified himself as a decent Premier League keeper after leaving the shadow of Alisson. He always impressed at Liverpool when he featured, but was never going to earn the starting role from one of the best keepers we’ve seen in the Premier League.

He was forced into five saves in the most recent league meeting between these sides, which saw Arsenal run out 2-0 winners. I think he’ll have to put together a similar display to keep Arsenal at bay here, given that the Gunners are likely to have Manchester City right behind them ahead of this fixture. Arsenal had seven shots on target in that clash, so we can expect them to carry a significant attacking threat in this clash.

Kelleher has been forced into making 68 saves across his 25 starts in the Premier League this term, working out to 2.72 saves per 90. We’re looking for a slight increase in this metric, but given that Arsenal need all three points to keep their lead in the title race, I’d expect the Gunners to test Kelleher on at least three occasions as they hunt down their first league title under Arteta.

One early trait I noticed about Keith Andrews’ Brentford side was the increase in aggression off the ball compared to Thomas Frank’s approach. Frank made Brentford quite a passive side, so much so that they ranked second from bottom of the Premier League for fouls committed (8.40 per game) and yellow cards (62).

This has changed this season with the Bees averaging 10.4 fouls committed per game, and the West London side are on course to eclipse their yellow card count from last season, having already collected 49 cautions. This increase in aggression has benefitted Brentford, with the majority of their fouls concentrated in the final third, with serial foulers like Igor Thiago being a great candidate to boost the foul count to at least nine from the home side.

Brentford committed nine fouls in their 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates earlier in the season. I can see them going above that tally here and finishing the game with a tally of 10 or 11 fouls, given that the Bees feel more emboldened when playing in front of their home fans.

Igor Thiago is a real handful for Premier League centre-backs and regularly is involved in duels as a result. Thiago has captured headlines for his output in front of goal, but his foul won and foul committed numbers are just as promising.

Thiago has committed 44 fouls across his 24 starts in the Premier League this season, working out to an average of 1.87 fouls committed per 90. Thiago could cover this foul involvement line just through the fouls he commits, Thiago has committed 2+ fouls in four of his last five Premier League appearances. Thiago is priced at 1.73 to commit 2+ fouls in this clash, which is also a price worth exploring.

Thiago’s performance against Newcastle last time out was a good example of the general standard of his displays this season. He scored and had four foul involvements, winning one foul and committing three. He will be left chasing scraps in this clash, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some frustration from Brentford’s top scorer this term.

I don’t think many people envisioned Igor Thiago being the second top scorer at this stage of the season in the Premier League, but the Brazilian is only second to Erling Haaland in the scoring charts with 17 goals to his name so far this season.

He scored against Newcastle last time out to bring about the 17-goal mark, and is overachieving his xG by some margin with an expected goals tally of 14.0 for the forward. If Brentford are going to score here, it’s hard to see how Thiago isn’t involved - his 17-goal haul accounts for 43% of Brentford’s total goals in the Premier League this term, so it’s fair to say that the Bees rely on him quite a bit.

Thiago is also a real handful and will be confident enough to front up to the difficult physical battle against Gabriel and Saliba. Thiago leads the line very well for Brentford, and even though he is overachieving his xG at the moment, it’s impossible to deny the momentum with which he enters this fixture, making him an ideal candidate to score.

I’ve been keeping an eye on the positioning of Mathias Jensen over recent weeks, and Keith Andrews has pushed him into a more advanced role as a temporary solution in the middle of the park while Brentford wait for key players in midfield to return to fitness.

Jensen’s move to a more advanced role has had a direct impact on his shot numbers; he had four shots against Newcastle last time out, with one of these attempts finding the target. He’s had a shot in four of his last five Premier League appearances, with three of these games seeing Jensen have multiple goal attempts.

Jensen has found the target in two of his last five Premier League appearances, and I can see him getting his effort on target as a late arrival into the box when Brentford can get their opportunities in transition. Jensen's shot lines are also worth exploring as long as Andrews continues to play Jensen in a more advanced role.

I think Mikel Arteta has treated Eze quite harshly so far during his time at Arsenal. He was regularly involved in the first few months of the season, but hasn’t featured as often since, notably after making a mistake against Villa, which cost Arsenal all three points earlier in the campaign.

Eze may not be the most consistent performer, nor is he particularly tuned defensively, but he offers Arsenal something that they desperately lack and need in the side - a bit of creativity and flair. Eze is the type of player to take matters into his own hands and shows particular promise when it comes to winning fouls.

Eze has drawn 21 fouls across his 12 starts in the Premier League this season (1.74 per 90). Brentford have seen a general increase in the number of fouls they commit in the Premier League this season, with Keith Andrews’ side averaging 10.4 fouls committed per game in the Premier League this term.