Arsenal need to quickly pick themselves up ahead of another London derby

Arsenal need to quickly pick themselves up ahead of this evening's game against Brentford after drawing with fellow London side Chelsea in their last match.

The Gunners were forced to share the points as they were held by the 10-man Blues at Stamford Bridge, halting their winning run and allowing second-placed Manchester City to close the gap to five points.

As Mikel Arteta's side take on the Bees, they will have to bounce back from the draw with Chelsea quickly and they will need to pick up three points tonight.

Arsenal need to quickly pick themselves up ahead of another London derby

Arsenal's stalemate at Chelsea was the fourth game they had failed to win in the Premier League this season having now drawn three times and lost once.

While they still sit top of the table by two points and can extend that back to five with a victory over Brentford this evening, they have to swiftly pick themselves back up in order to avoid getting sucked into a run of winless form.

In the Gunners' previous two failures to win the league despite a genuine challenge (2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons), one of their biggest downfalls was suffering inconsistent runs of form.

Over the course of those two campaigns, Arteta's side went on four runs of failing to win two or more consecutive games and that had a tremendous impact on their title hopes as they went onto lose out to Man City in both seasons.

The last thing they would want is for their draw at Chelsea to be the catalyst that precedes another run and Arsenal must ensure it isn't by picking up a win against Brentford.

The Bees have provided the Gunners with some tough tests in recent years, particularly at the Emirates, managing 1-1 draws in two of their last three visits to the red half of north London.

Keith Andrews' side have also impressed this season, beating the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Newcastle already despite many predicting they would suffer following Thomas Frank's departure in the summer.

As a result, they will be prepared to challenge Arsenal once again this evening and the hosts need to be ready for that. Brentford have proven to be a thorn in the side at times, but they can't allow that to happen again.

The Gunners are presented with a brilliant chance to show that they won't fold under pressure by re-extending their lead at the top of the table tonight. If they can avoid starting a run of winless form, their title hopes will remain strong, but if they drop points once again, they will take a real knock. Arsenal have to pick themselves straight back up against the Bees.