Thomas Frank has rejected suggestions that Brentford could take advantage of David Raya during their Premier League match against Arsenal on Saturday.
Brentford will go to the Emirates Stadium for the 5.30pm match on Saturday and are looking to hinder Arsenal’s title hopes.
Mikel Arteta will be missing his first-choice goalkeeper Raya because he is not allowed to play against his parent club due to the terms of Arsenal’s loan agreement with Brentford.
Aaron Ramsdale is expected to substitute for Raya but does not have much match practice having played only two games for Arsenal since the start of December.
However, when asked if Brentford could take advantage of Arsenal being required to play Ramsdale instead of Raya, Frank said on Friday: ‘So last time I don’t think they changed their style of play.
‘They want to dominate, they want to control the game, they want to build from behind, and they know when we can, we will try to press high.
‘We will try to press as much as possible but most teams go a little bit longer, so they’ll probably go a little bit longer. I don’t think it’ll change that much.’
Frank has also been impressed by Arsenal’s recent string of results as Arteta’s team aims to reach the top of the Premier League with a victory on Saturday before Liverpool’s match with Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.
‘I think in terms of form, momentum, they [Arsenal] are right up there,’ said Frank.
‘I think it’s clear Arsenal, Liverpool, and [Manchester] City are ahead of the rest.
‘Currently, maybe Arsenal is performing at the highest level, I’ve stopped counting the goals they’ve scored – 31 in the last seven matches? That’s more than four per game, wow, that’s impressive, we need to be very good to defend, 31 [goals]… very impressive.
‘But we trust ourselves, we believe in ourselves, and we know what we are about and what we can do.
‘But of course, they deserve a lot of praise. Arteta, his coaching staff and players, it’s evident they have improved from last season.
‘I don’t know exactly how you do that but they managed to have an okay first part of the season but they look so much stronger now.
‘I know we are not in the run-in but they look so strong coming into it. I think that’s a combination of all of them learning, a young team, young squad, they’ve got more experience. Just on the performances, they look very, very strong. The job they have done together is very impressive.
‘I said that to the players – the good news is we always give them a game, the bad news is they’ve never been better. So we need to put in a top, top performance out there to get something out of the game, no doubt about it. And they know they have to beat us.
‘I’m pretty sure they’re happy to take the pressure on them, they know they have to beat us to still be in the title race.’
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