Brentford v Arsenal betting tips: Bees hope Toney can sting

Arsenal endured a torrid campaign by their lofty standards, finishing eighth behind London rivals Tottenham and West Ham.

Manager Mikel Arteta’s job is already under scrutiny and their pre-season has not gone brilliantly, with the Gunners losing to Hibernian, Chelsea and Tottenham, drawing with Rangers and beating Brighton and Watford.

They are 11/10 for a top-six finish and 9/2 for a top-four finish but having signed Brighton’s centre-half Ben White for £50million, Arteta is putting together a promising young team, although they still have experience such as Willian (pictured below) and Mohamed Elneny.

The likes of gifted midfielder Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka could still be joined by Leicester’s attacking midfielder James Maddison, Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham and Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez.

The board appear to be backing the manager and they are 10/11 to make a winning start in Brentford v Arsenal betting tips. The draw is on offer at 13/5 and Arsenal are 23/10 to win to nil.

Brentford v Arsenal head-to-head

This will be the first league clash between these two sides since a Division One encounter at Griffin Park in May 1947, which Arsenal won 1-0. The Gunners are 13/2 to win by the same score on Friday night.

Arsenal have won just one of their six visits to Brentford in all competitions (D1 L4) but they did beat Brentford 3-1 in the League Cup third round in 2018 and have won three of the last four meetings overall.

Brentford are 6/1 to concede and win, while they are 19/20 to win or draw on the Double Chance market.

Brentford v Arsenal team news

Brentford striker Ivan Toney caused doubts over his fitness after he missed the 2-1 win over Valencia on Saturday, but Frank expects him to return to the side against Arsenal.

Including the play-offs, Toney was directly involved in 43 Championship goals during the 2020-21 season (33 goals, 10 assists) and is 11/5 to score Brentford’s first goal, or he can be backed at 6/4 to score at any time in Brentford v Arsenal betting tips.

Summer signing Kristoffer Ajer could be in line for his competitive debut alongside Pontus Jansson and Ethan Pinnock. Fellow new arrival Frank Onyeka may start after coming on as substitute against Valencia and scoring the winner.

Arsenal have a number of injury concerns, with Thomas Partey and Gabriel Magalhaes both ruled out.

Eddie Nketiah has an ankle issue that means he could be sidelined while Brazilian forward Gabriel Martinelli was part of his country’s Tokyo 2020 gold-medal winning squad and may not feature for a few weeks.

However, new signings White and Albert Lokonga both started against Spurs and are almost certain to start against the Bees.

Brentford v Arsenal key battles

The Gunners will hope to get off to a good start as they face Chelsea and Manchester City in their next two league games.

Brentford’s season could be defined early on, with clashes upcoming against Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Brighton.

The Gunners must keep Toney quiet, but equally Brentford’s defence must keep an eye on Nicolas Pépé, who finished last season scoring five goals in three games, netting a brace in the Gunners’ final two games of the season.

Pépé is 13/8 to score at any time while it is 7/2 for both sides to score in the first half in Brentford v Arsenal betting tips.

View the latest Premier League odds

All odds and markets correct as of date of publication