Rotation needed and height required as Brentford visit

Morning.

It’s Brentford at home tonight as the games keep coming. Mikel Arteta’s injury updates in his press conference yesterday were typically vague, saying that William Saliba and Leandro Trossard would be ‘a matter of days’, while Kai Havertz and Gabriel remain ‘a matter of weeks’. Beyond that he wouldn’t be drawn too much, which is more or less what we expect now.

My guess is that if there’s any risk to either Saliba or Trossard, they’ll be held back for the trip to Aston Villa on Saturday, meaning the central-defensive partnership of Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie will be asked to do the job again tonight. I think there’s possible scope for rotation at right-back, where if you wanted to take some of the burden off Jurrien Timber (who has played the second most outfield minutes this season), you could start Ben White.

At left-back, Riccardo Calafiori only played 45 minutes at Stamford Bridge, and against a side like Brentford where height in our penalty box will be important, I think he’ll get the nod over Myles Lewis-Skelly for his aerial prowess. That might also influence midfield too, where you might consider giving Declan Rice some rest, but you have to recognise the strength of the opposition, as well as what he brings when we have set-pieces of our own.

Then, pick the rest from Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard who would be desperate to play anyway but particularly against his old club, Eberechi Eze, Martin Odegaard who must be pushing for a start, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino, Ethan Nwaneri, Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka. We have injuries, but also plenty of options at our disposal.

It’s hard to guess exactly which configuration the manager will go for. Gyokeres will be pushing for a start, but against a side who might well set-up with a back five, is Merino a better pick? He’d come into this one on the back of a very important goal in our last game too, and it might leave the Swede as a more interesting option for a game at Villa Park where the opposition play with a very high line that might suit his running power better.

Brentford’s ‘massive weapon’, as Mikel Arteta, has called it, is the long throw of Michael Kayode. No player has taken more throw-ins in the Premier League this season, his 150 puts him way clear of anybody else, and it’s obvious why that is. There are long throws and then there are LONG throws, and his is the latter. They come in hard and at a difficult trajectory, and it’s something we’re going to have to deal with today. Even in the pre-game preparation, there’s probably some discussion about how, if you have to clear it out for a throw, do your best to get it as far up the pitch as possible.

But it would be unfair, I think, to characterise them as reliant on that. They have creativity in midfield, and some quality and pace in forward areas too, which they use to good effect when breaking from deep. In a game where we’re likely to have a lot of possession and territory in the opposition half, the quick break when the ball turns over in their half is something we need to be mindful of.

Arteta says:

Every game that we play, when you look at the intensity in the Premier League against any opponent, what is needed is incredible. Brentford bring different threats, different challenges, as we all know, and you need to dominate that if you want to win the game.

He also made a point of issuing a rallying cry for match-going fans to get in early and get behind the team as vociferously as they can. This has been a really intense week, and I imagine he’s trying to squeeze a lot of some players, so he’s looking to see if the crowd and the atmosphere can provide a tiny bit of the energy required.

After the draw against Chelsea, and Man City winning last night despite almost throwing away a 5-1 lead against Fulham, there is a need to get back to winning ways tonight. It will be tough, but there’s enough quality in the team and on the bench to make that happen, and hopefully we’ll be three points better off come the end of the 90 minutes.

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For now, have a good one, and come on you reds!