Merino and Saka sting Bees to restore Arsenal's cushion

‘Anight after the chaos of Manchester City beating Fulham 5-4, Arsenal seized the opportunity to prove that they are a sturdier proposition than Pep Guardiola’s side.

- Jacob Steinberg

The Gunners kept their eighth clean sheet of the season, despite losing another centre-back to injury, and restored their five-point advantage at the top of the Premier League by seeing off Brentford thanks to an early header from Mikel Merino and alate goal from Bukayo Saka.

It was another stolid effort from Mikel Arteta’s side. They made an enterprising start, delighting the Emirates Stadium when a lovely move ended with Merino’s second goal in four days, but they could not maintain their flow and were leaning on their resilience when Cristhian Mosquera increased their defensive issues by limping off before halftime.

‘The loss of Mosquera could be significant. Arsenal coped against Brentford, the unfamiliar partnership of Jurrién Timber and Piero Hincapié holding out, but it will be different at Villa Park on Saturday. Aston Villa will fancy their chances given that Arsenal are already without Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba.