Goals from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka saw Arsenal comfortably beat Brentford in this midweek Premier League clash in north London.
Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table with a narrow victory over Brentford at the Emirates Stadium thanks to goals from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka.
Just like at the weekend, it was Merino who stepped up to score their first goal of the game – his fifth of the season for the club in all competitions. He opened the scoring in the 11th minute, and yet again it was a header; his seventh (of 10 goals) since signing for the club.
The goal ended a free-flowing 14-pass move by Mikel Arteta’s side involving all 10 of their outfield players – the first goal involving that many Arsenal players in the build-up since February.
Merino Goal vs Brentford for Arsenal 3 December 2025
Brentford came very close to adding a headed goal of their own in the 21st minute, but David Raya pulled off an extraordinary reaction save against his former club to stop Kevin Schade from equalising. The Bees’ forward was unmarked in the box before directing his header goalwards but saw it tipped onto the bar by Raya’s fantastic reflex stop.
Arsenal were dealt another injury blow just before half-time, with central defender Cristhian Mosquera departing with what looked like a muscle issue. The Spaniard joins first-choice centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães on the sidelines, and Arteta will hope that at least one will be able to return over what promises to be a busy December schedule.
The second half passed largely without incident until Saka added a second for Arsenal in added time. After being fed through by Merino, Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher got his hands to the shot but was unable to keep the ball out of the net.
The introduction of top scorer Igor Thiago on the hour mark didn’t do much to increase Brentford’s threat going forward in the match, as Keith Andrews’ side managed just three shots, with none on target, in the second half.
In the end it was another clean sheet for Arteta’s team, their eighth of the Premier League season already, and they have now conceded just seven goals in 14 games in the competition in 2025-26.
Arsenal’s win means that the gap between themselves and Manchester City increases to five points once again, after City’s dramatic 5-4 win at Fulham on Tuesday had seen them move to within two points of the Gunners.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Arsenal vs Brentford stats from their Premier League meeting at the Emirates Stadium on 3 December 2025.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Arsenal 2-0 Brentford Stats: Post-Match Facts
Facts to follow.
Premier League Stats Opta
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