For weeks now, Arsenal have looked unstoppable. Some of them seem weak. However, a common theme has recently emerged regarding Arsenal after another unconvincing performance at Brentford
Since the start of this year, Arsenal have struggled to live up to Manchester City’s results in the title race. This is the fourth time Mikel Arteta’s side have dropped points in a Gameweek game, following the game against City.
Man City dominated Fulham this week, but Arsenal stumbled against their own west London opponents the following day. The day after Man City beat Wolves, they lost to Manchester United.
At the start of the calendar year, they failed to really extend their lead against Josep Guardiola’s side against Nottingham Forest, just hours after City’s defeat in the Manchester derby, and against Liverpool after City dropped a point at Brighton.
At the same time, Arsenal looked like a different team when they took the lead. There was no nerves in the game against Sunderland last weekend, ahead of the dramatic clash between City and Liverpool.
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Free to watch: Premier League highlights from Brentford vs Arsenal
They headed towards Elland Road. It was also a difficult venue, as they lost star forward Bukayo Saka during warm-ups. It was an easy road to the game between City and Spurs.
Arsenal found a way out at Bournemouth on Saturday before City host Chelsea on Super Sunday. And even at home against Aston Villa they returned to the excellent results that had been missing at Brentford. Again, it happened the day before City were to play.
Arteta refuted the claim that being second has an impact on the team. “I don’t think so. I think we played like that a few times this season after them and we won the game,” he said.
He has a point. Arsenal’s narrow wins over Brighton and Everton in December came just hours after City’s victory.
But that’s 2025, this is 2026. The finish line is getting closer and closer, and the other cup competitions are starting to get more intense. More difficult questions will be asked, and your fear of crossing the line will increase.
Arteta instead said Arsenal’s recent drop in points was linked to a lack of defensive solidity against Brentford, one of the Premier League’s most chaotic sides.
Brentford’s Keane Lewis-Potter scores against Arsenal
“We lacked some things against them. We need to defend those situations, and it’s even better to prevent them,” he said.
“You want to give them no chance or just hope something bad happens, but we didn’t manage it well enough throughout the game.”
But could it have something to do with the pressure of playing after City? There were a few moments in the Brentford game where Arsenal weren’t quite themselves.
Three minutes into the game, Gabriel played a wayward pass behind Brentford’s corner, then committed a number of clumsy fouls and almost got sent off with two yellow cards.
The build-up to Igor Thiago’s big chance in the first half required a big save from David Raya, but the Arsenal goalkeeper gave the ball away cheaply with a howling throw.
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David Raya threatened Matthias Jensen with a slow-out and Brentford striker Igor Thiago’s header immediately put pressure on the Arsenal goal, but the Spaniard was able to recover with a brilliant save.
It was unlike him and had a similar feel to Martin Zvimendi’s mistake that led to Manchester United’s equalizer against the Emirates in January.
Gabriel Martinelli has currently missed big chances against Forest and Brentford, but he has been effective in areas of pressure, particularly against Man City in September.
The title race makes things interesting for the players, reinforcing the idea that despite Arsenal’s impressive squad, City’s experience across the line is their trump card against Arsenal.
Whether schedule matters or not, Arsenal will need to resolve their recent problems with ‘playing after City’ – and quickly.
City will not be available in their next Premier League game, when they face Wolves on Wednesday, but Guardiola’s side will play for the first time in the next two-game week.
In these games, Arsenal will face two more London derbies with questions similar to those they faced at Brentford.
A week later, on Sunday, they face a Tottenham side expected to be ‘returned by a new manager’ following the departure of Thomas Frank, while Chelsea arrive at the Emirates a week later – and Liam Rosenior’s side have shown they can produce a nervous spectacle at the Emirates.
Over the past five days, Arsenal’s lead has gone from nine points to four, with City smelling blood in the air. The battle for this title is about to get serious.
