Prediction and odds for the game: Brentford (16/5) vs Arsenal (5/6)

We are backing Ivan Toney to be an anytime goalscorer at odds of 11/8

When: Friday, 13th August 2021, Kick-off 20:00

Where: The Brentford Community Stadium

On Friday night, Brentford make their Premier League debut, as the Bees welcome Arsenal to the Brentford Community Stadium.

Brentford

Thomas Frank’s team have been highly impressive in the Championship in the last few seasons, playing exciting attacking football and scoring lots of goals. In fact, the Bees have been the top scorers in the last two seasons in the second tier, finishing third-place in both campaigns.

They gained promotion via a 2-0 play-off final win over Swansea last season after losing the play-off final in the previous campaign. One player who played a key role in promotion was star striker Ivan Toney, who scored 33 goals in the second tier. If the 25-year-old can make the step up in level, then he could well be the difference between the Bees enjoying a strong season or suffering a quick return to the Championship.

Brentford have dipped into the transfer market to strengthen their squad. Their biggest money signing was the versatile Norwegian international Kristoffer Ajer. However, young Nigerian international Frank Onyeka could prove just as important a signing as the Scandinavian. The 23-year-old has arrived from Danish club Midtjylland.

Arsenal

The Gunners have experienced a poor pre-season campaign. However, there is optimism around the north London club about the new season due to the signings of highly-rated young trio Ben White, Nuno Tavares and Albert Lokonga. White is probably the only player of the three who is a guaranteed starter, but the two others will certainly be ones to watch for the future.

Arsenal finished last season in good form, as they won their final five league matches of the campaign, while scoring also scoring at least two goals in four of those five matches. In the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe the Gunners have dangerous attacking players.

Despite their eighth-place finish in the table last season, Arsenal had the third-best defensive record, bettered only by champions Manchester City and European champions Chelsea. If head coach Mikel Arteta can coax more consistency out of his team, then they could be real contenders for a top-four spot this season. However, that’s a major if considering that the Gunners have been inconsistent under the man from San Sebastian.

Conclusion

It is difficult to predict how Brentford will fare in the English top-flight. However, it seems unlikely that the Bees will change their attacking style of play, which lead to some exciting encounters in the top-flight. With that in mind, our tip is going to come from the goals market. We fancy the prolific Toney to mark his Premier League debut with a goal, so we are backing him to be an anytime goalscorer. The other bet we are backing is over 2.5 goals, as both these teams offer a significant attacking threat. This could be a highly entertaining encounter.

Our Pick: We are backing Ivan Toney to be an anytime goalscorer at odds of 11/8 and/or both teams to score at odds of 3/4. (All odds are taken from Bet365).

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Can Brentford record a victory on their Premier League debut?