Why Brentford were perfect ‘warm-up’ for one thing Arsenal will ‘deal with’ v Porto

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Journalist Charles Watts believes that Brentford were the perfect opponents for Arsenal to play ahead of facing Porto for one reason.

Arsenal were made to fight for their 2-1 win against Brentford at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.

The Gunners went ahead in the first half, before Yoane Wissa capitalised upon an Aaron Ramsdale error to level things up before the break. In the second half, Mikel Arteta’s men piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser, but for a long time the Bees defended their box diligently.

Thomas Frank’s side used every trick in the book to try to see out a result, including taking every opportunity to waste time.

However, Kai Havertz popped up in the 86th minute to connect with a Ben White cross and score the goal that would put Arsenal back to the top of the Premier League table for the first time since Christmas, at least until the outcome of Manchester City’s clash with Liverpool on Sunday evening.

This goal marked a personal first for Havertz in the Premier League. This win also meant that Arsenal have now taken maximum points from their first eight Premier League games in 2024, making them just the fourth club to have ever achieved such a feat. This is a record that certainly bodes well for their Premier League title aspirations. 

Arsenal warned of Brentford tactical repeat against Porto

Attention will now turn away from the Premier League and onto the Champions League. Arsenal are set to take on Porto in Europe’s elite club competition on Tuesday evening. This fixture is the second-leg of the Gunners’ round of 16 clash against the Portuguese outfit. Arteta’s side will go into this game already 1-0 down on aggregate, having slumped to a late defeat at the Estadio do Dragao.

In the first-leg, Porto were happy to waste time and go to ground at every opportunity in pursuit of a positive result. Arteta was frustrated by their antics after that match. Arsenal can expect even more of the same on Tuesday, as Porto will kick-off with a lead to defend. They will do all they can to break up the game and frustrate the hosts. As they did against Brentford, Arsenal must find a way to overcome this approach.

Charles Watts feels that the test Brentford provided will stand Arsenal in good stead for this fixture. Speaking on his Inside Arsenal YouTube channel, the reporter said, “Brentford, they time-wasted so much in the second-half. Every time they went down. Now, this was a real good warm-up for Arsenal for what they’re going to face on Tuesday night against Porto, I think. They dealt with it well, but they are going to have to deal with it again on Tuesday night when play Porto.”