After the disappointment of defeat at Goodison Park last Saturday, it’s fair to say a few things have gone our way.
Manchester City faltered at Tottenham, Manchester United struggled against Leeds and Newcastle’s surprise title charge showed further signs of losing steam with another draw – this time against West Ham. Frankly, it all worked out rather well for us.
Wins for all three of those sides would really have ramped up the pressure on Mikel Arteta’s men but, instead, we found ourselves very much as we were and, in truth, with the opportunity even to strengthen our hand.
However, despite the fumbles of our competitors, the old maxim holds true: points on the board are worth more than games in hand. In order to maximise the advantage handed to us, we must convert the latter into the former. Our rivals won’t stumble forever.
Our next opportunity to do so comes this weekend as Brentford visit the Emirates. When we visited the Gtech Community Stadium back in September, it’s fair to say we settled a bit of a score. The 3-0 win was excellent at the time and, given Brentford’s form since, has looked more impressive with every passing week.
Thomas Frank’s side were slow out of the blocks that day but I’m almost certain that won’t happen again on Saturday. In fact, I expect a far tougher test than most. We’ve been electric at home so far this season but there are almost no easy games in this league now, as last week showed us.
Frank will have a plan for us, perhaps inspired by the antics of Sean Dyche, and we can expect a tough, tactical encounter. We won’t be able to approach this one as we did Everton because, like the Toffees, our visitors won’t simply roll over. It’s no accident that they find themselves in the mix for European places this season.
Barring any new injuries, I would expect the manager to at least start the same side that took to the field at Goodison Park, though I think the manager will almost certainly make full use of his bench in the second half. We have the visit of Manchester City to contend with next Wednesday and he will want to lighten the load for some of his players for what could be a defining encounter in this campaign.
He will be mindful, however, of the need to go into that game in the strongest possible position and that means getting a good result against Brentford. It’s no good keeping your powder dry for the City game if you squander the advantage in the build-up. At the end of the season, all three points are worth the same.
In an ideal world, we’ll get ourselves into a comfortable position by half-time against Brentford, leaving the manager space to tinker around the edges, but the football fan in me says it won’t be that easy. For a certainty, it’s going to be a difficult balancing act for the manager and a tough ask for the players, who face three games in a week from Saturday.
All the more important, therefore, that, while we are at our freshest, we make the most of it because things will only get harder as the days go by. A big performance against Brentford will set the tone and, I’m sure, Arteta will be keen to dispel any sense of complacency.
This next week could have huge ramifications for our Premier League push and they have to start in the right way. There’s no more room for complacency.
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