Same old story for Arsenal as poor attack sees more points dropped against Brentford | OneFootball

Arsenal dropped more points in the Premier League title race as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Brentford on Saturday evening.

The Gunners’ title hopes were already slim, with many — including their own fans — counting them out. Instead, the main aim for the final weeks was to secure a top four finish. Nevertheless, they remain Liverpool‘s closest challengers and could slip further away this weekend.

Mikel Arteta rotated quite a bit from the team that started the Champions League win over Real Madrid, with next week’s second leg in mind. And it showed, with Arsenal looking slightly off pace particularly in front of goal.

Arsenal’s struggles will have also been in part down to facing a Brentford side that have looked tough to beat on the road this year. The Bees had won five Premier League away games in 2025, with no side picking up more points in the calendar year.

Brentford also ranked top in the league for goals and shot conversion, while also conceding the fewest goals on the road. Then there was their set-piece prowess, only conceding three goals from set-pieces in the league all season. That, combined with Arsenal’s change in team, saw the Gunners opt to go short from a lot of their set-pieces — not something they usually do.

And it was a set piece from which Arsenal got the opening. Just not one of their own. Brentford had a corner just on the hour-mark, that was delivered straight into David Raya’s hands. The Spaniard was quick with the roll out, playing the ball to Declan Rice.

Rice pushed up from midway through his own half towards the edge of the Brentford box, releasing the ball at just the right time for Thomas Partey, who scored. A quick and expertly-executed counter attack, it was just the moment Arsenal needed to break Brentford’s stern defence.

Rice has now been directly involved in 16 goals across all competitions for Arsenal, his joint-most ever in a single campaign of his career. He has also been directly involved in eight goals in his past 10 games across all competitions for club and country, scoring four with four assists.

After the goal, you’d have expected Arsenal to see out the victory, especially as Arteta made changes almost immediately. Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Martin Odegaard all came on, shortly followed by Jurrien Timber.

But Arsenal were pegged back by a Yoane Wissa goal, instinctively finished after Nathan Collins had headed the ball back across the box. The goal brought up 50 Premier League involvements for Wissa, just the second Brentford player to reach the landmark after Bryan Mbeumo.

It was just Brentford’s third shot, two of which hit the target. For Arsenal, it was a reminder of how costly their toothless attack continues to be.

There was a moment in the first half when Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri bumped into each other, both occupying the same spaces with the latter on the ball. That perfectly summed up Arsenal’s attack.

Arsenal had 14 shots against Brentford, but only hit the target three times with 0.82 Expected Goals. One of those shots on target was Rice trying to score from a corner, forcing a save from Mark Flekken. Ten different players had a shot for Arsenal, with Trossard managing the most on three. But his three shots brought a total xG of 0.07, not really getting into good enough areas. Martinelli’s two shots brought an xG of 0.2, the second-most of any Arsenal player. But he failed to register an effort on target. Nwaneri’s one shot, not on target, brought 0.05 xG.

Saka had two shots after coming off the bench, and really should have scored for Arsenal, having tackled Flekken on the edge of his box. But rustiness and an uncharacteristic lack of composure saw Saka fluff the opportunity.

William Saliba also led Arsenal for chances created on three. While you can definitely use that to praise Saliba, and his long passing from the back, it’s not a good look for a team if you’re best creator is a centre-back. Rice was the only other Arsenal player to create more than one chance.

The result was Arsenal’s 12th league draw of the season, with only Everton (14) drawing more games than the Gunners. That’s been the difference between Arsenal and Liverpool this season, with the Gunners only losing three games to the Reds’ two.