Arteta Shakes Up Arsenal Lineup with Three Bold Changes Against Brentford

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta chose to bench key players Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Jurriën Timber for Wednesday evening's Premier League encounter against Brentford.

The Bees traveled the short distance from west to north London for the match at Emirates Stadium, as the hectic December schedule begins to intensify for both clubs. Brentford manager Keith Andrews also decided to rest top scorer Igor Thiago, who has 11 goals this season, placing him among the substitutes.

Arsenal face a demanding schedule with seven fixtures remaining against Aston Villa, Club Brugge, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton, Crystal Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa (again) in the final four weeks of 2025.

Looking to preserve their recent form, Arteta avoided wholesale changes but still withdrew Saka, Eze and Timber from the starting eleven that featured in the weekend's 1–1 stalemate with Chelsea.

Noni Madueke, club skipper Martin Ødegaard—making his first start since recovering from a knee problem last month—and Ben White were brought into the starting lineup.

Mikel Merino, who netted the leveler against Chelsea, continues in the makeshift striker position he's surprisingly mastered, while Arsenal's forward options have recently gained significant reinforcement ahead of the packed fixture calendar.

Viktor Gyökeres was once more among the reserves after featuring off the bench against Chelsea in his first outing following a four-match layoff. The Swedish forward has found the net just four times in the Premier League since his headline summer move from Portuguese champions Sporting CP—where he scored 54 goals across all competitions last term.

Gabriel Jesus was also listed among the substitutes for the second consecutive match, having endured a much longer spell on the sidelines with an ACL injury sustained in January 2025, keeping him out for 11 months. The Brazilian has participated in an unofficial closed-door match recently and supporters are eager to see his return to competitive action soon.

Arsenal Maintain 17-Match Unbeaten Streak

The Gunners aim to extend their unbeaten run to 18 matches across all competitions, having last tasted defeat in a tight 1–0 loss to Liverpool in August—their sole setback this campaign.