Paul Merson has said that Arsenal’s game against Brentford is their ‘biggest of the season’ and that the Gunners ‘have to win’.
Speaking in his column for Sky Sports, the Arsenal legend said that Mikel Arteta’s side need to bounce back from their disappointing performance against Everton with three points.
The Magic Man stated: ‘I said before the game that if Arsenal turned up with the right attitude, they’d win 3-0, but if they didn’t have the right attitude, I thought they’d get beat.’
Merson’s prediction came true as Sean Dyche’s side won the game 1-0 thanks to a second-half James Tarkowski header.
The pundit summed up Arsenal’s performance by saying, ‘it just didn’t look like they were up for the game.’
Merson sent a warning to the Arsenal side that they can’t follow up the game at Goodison Park without a win.
Merson said: ‘If you start backing up defeats with draws or another loss, it soon mounts up and before you know it, the table looks completely different.
‘However, win it and there is no damage done at all before Man City travel to the Emirates.’
Merson continued: ‘A response and a win against Brentford will create confidence again. On the other hand, a second defeat creates doubt and then the last team you want to face next is City, no matter how they are playing.’
Arsenal will know they have their work cut out against a Brentford team who are unbeaten in their last nine league games.
The Bees beat Southampton 3-0 in their last Premier League outing and have climbed to seventh in the table.
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said that despite Arsenal’s loss at Everton, his side will need their ‘best’ ever Premier League performance against the Gunners.
