Arsenal vs Brentford: 5 key players to watch for

Arsenal’s midweek clashes continue against Brentford in the League Cup, third round. Here are five key players to watch for in the match.

Arsenal are in fantastic form at the moment. So fantastic, in fact, that even their awful outings, like against Everton, turn into clean sheet victories. It’s uncanny. And it’s primarily thanks to a fantastic attack that boasts more options than Unai Emery knows what to do with.

The midweek fixtures began against FC Vorskla in the Europa League last Thursday, with the Gunners controlling the game handily in a match that should have ended 4-0, but instead ended 4-2. Still, the result is the same, three points is three points.

Next up is a Wednesday League Cup match-up with Brentford, and the Gunners will have plenty of squad rotation to keep things interesting. It’s going to be tough to predict how Emery will line up, but I’m going to do my best to pick out the five key players to a successful and entertaining match.

As a precursor, with Henrikh Mkhtiaryan’s health a question, and his presence largely unnecessary in this one (hopefully), he will not feature on this list.

On to No. 5

5. Rob Holding

Rob Holding was called on to fill in for an injured Sokratis against Everton and he was, well, I guess decent is the best word for it. He had confidence, which is a positive, but it led him to make a lot of the same mistakes Mustafi makes, where he takes the ball from deep, gets dispossessed, and leaves the club high and dry to defend the counter.

We need to see Holding settle into himself, and make the Calum Chambers progression of knowing what to do with the ball, even if that means hoofing it out of play to avoid a sticky situation.

Depending on the extent of Sokratis’s injury, Holding may have his opportunity to prove something, and he’ll want to get settled against Brentford. So let’s see if he can accomplish that much.

No. 4 is next.