Brentford v Arsenal: Premier League – live

And how great it is to see the away fans standing, officially.

If Brentford win this, they go ninth; if Arsenal win this, they go top.

Email! “One of the many doubts, worries and general angsty preoccupations of the Arsenal fan is the state of Thomas Partey’s legs,” says Charles Antaki. “Are they fully functional, and if so for how long? What happens when he can’t play, and you don’t have somebody who can boss the ball, receive and turn, drive on and threaten? Lokonga looks a fine prospect for the middling future, but it’s all about the present, ins’t it? And specifically not getting done by the Brentford midfield.”

Yes, agree. When Arsenal were getting grief last season, the impact of his absence wasn’t, in my opinion, fully factored in. I can’t wait to see him blaze over a succession of shot from 18-25 yards.

Arsenal are warming up in their Jamaican-flag tops. They really are an exceptional leisurewear brand – 10 minutes at Carnival told me that whoever came up with this one knew exactly what they were doing.

Arteta, wearing a v-neck school jumper with tie underneath, Rangers-style, tells us that Zinchenko and Odegaard are injured, and that Nwanieri is playing because ‘“We are pretty short”. Sometimes, the hilarious gags write themselves.

Frank, meanwhile, confirms that he wants his team to be brave and aggressive, and that they want to turn the Community Stadium in “a fortress”. He knows Arsenal are good, and laughs that even before his England call-up, Ivan Toney was not lacking confidence.

Back to Ethan Nwaneri, I didn’t realise that he’s 15. 15! Oof madone! What happened to two-litre bottles of Strongbow in parks and on buses?

Arsenal, meanwhile, will be looking, I imagine, to get down the outsides of Brentford’s outside centre-backs, with the full-backs high and wide to keep the width. I’m sure they’ll miss Odegaard, whose ability to pick little passes into feet is so important for them, but Jesus’ ability to occupy an entire defence will give Vieira a decent target.

The more I think about it, the more this game will be decided by how well – or not – Gabriel and Saliba handle Toney and Mbuemo. The 5-3-2 makes a lot of sense in that context, because while Arsenal are improving, I’m still not sold on their back four, and I daresay Brentford will also want to have a look at Ben White, out of position at right-back.

Er, Google have Pontus Janssen playing on the right of midfield in a 4-3-3. I’ll take the L if that turns out to be so, but I can’t completely see it.

Is Aaron Hickey’s nickname “Bites yer neck”? Sorry.

This is a London derby, so here’s a London anecdote: I was in a Soho hostelry last evening, and was approached by two Welsh women, wondering if I was local. They’d expected such establishments to be populated solely by tourists, so were excited to meet someone from the area; the film rights have already been optioned.

As for Arsenal, there’s good news and bad news. We knew that Oleksandr Zinchenko would miss out – Kieran Tierney is a decent alternative – but Martin Odegaard is also absent, and he’s a big loss. However, Thomas Partey begins his latest comeback, replacing Sambi Lokonga, and I’m really looking forward to getting a look at Fabio Vieira, who looked good when he came on at Old Trafford and looks to have plenty of potential.

There’s a fair bit to go on here. Brentford, who were so impressive in gubbing Leeds last time out, switch from 4-3-3 to 5-3-2, bringing in Kristoffer Ajer and Josh Dasilva for Shandon Baptiste and Keane Lewis-Potter, the Premier League’s first player to have three surnames. Their ability to switch formations in this way – they also played 5-3-2 against Manchester United – is a tribute both to Thomas Frank’s coaching and the intelligence of their players, and the contest between their front two and Arsenal’s centre-backs might well hold the key to this game.

Teams!

Preamble