Leeds United v Brentford - Premier League 2026/27
Daniel Farke, manager of Leeds United, acknowledges the fans during the Premier League match between Leeds United and Brentford at Elland Road in Leeds, United Kingdom, on August 30, 2026. (Photo by Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Leeds United’s games last season against Arsenal certainly didn’t go to plan.
Over the course of both games, Arsenal scored nine goals without reply. Thrashing the Whites 5-0 at the Emirates before putting another four past us in the reverse fixture at Elland Road.
In a season in which we competed against more or less every side we came up against in at least one of our league meetings with them, Arsenal were the exception.
Daniel Farke will be keen to change that when facing them again on Saturday. Whilst this is no easy task, it will certainly be a lot less daunting now we have our £40million star James Trafford in goal.
With frustrating footage resurfacing from our previous clashes against Arsenal, Farke will be delighted he now has the dependable Englishman between the sticks.
Premier League posts Leeds United v Arsenal footage that will send a shiver down supporters’ spines
On the official Premier League X account, they posted footage of two goals Bukayo Saka has previously scored against us.
One was from the game in which we lost 1-0 to the Gunners at Elland Road back in 2022, whilst the other was from our game at the Emirates last season when we had five put past us.
Those games couldn’t have been more different looking back. The game under Jesse Marsch back in 2022, we were by far the better team, with Patrick Bamford missing a penalty. We at least deserved to take a point.
But in the game last season at the Emirates, we were easily brushed aside and well beaten.
Despite those games being so different, Saka’s goals in both were quite similar. On his weaker right foot, Saka smashed the ball in at the near post past the helpless Illan Meslier at Elland Road, then at the Emirates, his strike evaded Lucas Perri.
Both goalkeepers should’ve done far better when looking at the goals, and I couldn’t help but think that they wouldn’t have gone in if Trafford were in goal for us.
I think Trafford wouldn’t have gone to ground as easily as Meslier for the first goal, and for the second, Perri’s reaction times were way off.
It made me grateful that we finally have a reliable ‘keeper these days. So hopefully, conceding cheap goals like these should be a far rarer occurrence.
The first time was so nice, @BukayoSaka87 had to do it twice 👊 pic.twitter.com/W1Infsm3zq
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 8, 2026
Daniel Farke has a far better team now compared to the last time we were at the Emirates
By no means am I going into the game on Saturday expecting us to return to West Yorkshire with any points. But we have a much better chance this season than when we played at the Emirates last August.
Instead of Perri in goal, we now have Trafford.
As well as this, our captain Ethan Ampadu missed that game. We certainly missed him in our engine room, with Ilia Gruev coming into the team whilst Ampadu was out.
Dan James and Willy Gnonto were our starting wingers that day. With all due respect, they both looked completley out of their depth. They were replaced by Noah Okafor and Brenden Aaronson not long after the hour mark.
However, perhaps the biggest difference is up top. At the Emirates last season, Joel Piroe played. Whilst some may deem it harsh, this was the game that made me realise that Piroe was nowhere near the level required to play up top in the Premier League.
Thankfully we don’t have to worry about this now, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin likely to lead the line instead.
On top of this, we lined up in a 4-3-3, and this also won’t be the case this weekend. Farke will instead line up in a 5-3-2 or 3-5-2, depending on what you want to call it.
By all means, we’re still massive underdogs on Saturday. But compared to last season, it looks like we have more of a fighting chance.
But against a team of Arsenal’s quality, there’s still the possibility they could dismantle us regardless.