Arsenal vs Brentford: 5 key players to watch for

2. Matteo Guendouzi

The switch finally happened. Lucas Torreira was given the start against Everton, marking the end of Matteo Guendouzi’s consecutive starts to begin his Premier League career. It was a fantastic initial foray into the best football league in the world and showed that Guendouzi is the real deal. He is going to be a clear and present influence on this club.

That said, he probably isn’t too pleased with being moved aside for Lucas Torreira. We may have all known this was going to happen, but for it to actually happen may have been a reality check of sorts for him.

And as such, I would expect to see him determined to prove Emery wrong. This kid is a ball of energy, he commands to much attention in the center of the pitch by his effort alone, and that influence can take front and center against a Brentford side that we shouldn’t be having many troubles with.

I don’t think anything he can do can reverse the decision make to start Torreira over him, but he can learn and grow from this “set-back” and start to solidify his consistency. That is what we should be looking for against Brentford – improvements in the things that held him back.

Finally, No. 1.