Brentford backed to 'smack the a**e' of 'boring' Arsenal in Premier League debut

Brentford begin their first top-flight campaign in 74 years on Friday night with one of the toughest tests possible, a visit of Mikel Arteta's Arsenal.

The Gunners have splashed the cash this summer to improve on last season's eighth-place finish, and have a wage bill multiple times that of the Bees.

However, Hermann Hreidarsson believes Thomas Frank's side will have nothing to fear, and will 'smack Arsenal's a**e'.

Arsenal have already spent £75million on new players, while Brentford broke their transfer record to sign Kristoffer Ajer for a comparatively minuscule £13m.

The Gunners are hoping to catapult themselves back into the Champions League this season after a two-year absence from the competition.

In contrast, Brentford supporters are hoping merely to survive in the top flight, though officials within the club are setting their sights higher.

Brentford face Arsenal in their first-ever Premier League game ( Image:

Athena Pictures/Getty Images)

Despite the obvious gulf between the two London sides, Hreidarsson believes the newly-promoted Bees have nothing to fear when they line up against the 13-time champions of England on Friday night.

Speaking to Mirror Football, he said: "No [I'm not nervous]. Brentford will absolutely smack their a**e.

"I've watched quite a lot of Brentford and followed them quite a lot over the years. Everyone can see the resemblance season after season, game after game. You know what they're after and you know what they're gonna do. They've got great consistency and it's fun, it's so much fun, they're energetic, they're brave, and they get after teams.

"Whereas Arsenal, they've absolutely bored me to death in the past season.

"I'm not scared at all, I think Brentford will really get after them and show them how it's done."

Brentford have been known for their free-flowing attacking football in recent years, with attackers like Said Benrahma, Ollie Watkins, Neal Maupay, Tarique Fosu and Ivan Toney strutting their stuff in West London.

Many feel, however, that they will have to sit back and play without the ball this season as they come up against the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.

But Hreidarsson disagrees entirely, and warned Brentford that they need to avoid repeating the mistakes made by Fulham last season, when they went straight back down after winning promotion.

Brentford beat Valencia in their last pre-season test before the Premier League campaign began

Instead, he expressed optimism that Frank will encourage his side to continue playing their "brave" style of play and get at teams from kick-off in a similar way to Leeds' return to the top flight last season.

Hreidarsson continued: "If you look at what Leeds did, they stuck to their ferocity, their game plan and their style of play.

"They got absolutely hammered a few times, and Bielsa didn't care. They knew what they were doing. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it was a day [to forget], other days it's your day.

"I believe if Brentford stay positive and stay brave, like their best game is, they'll survive.

"You could see with Fulham, they were defensive and almost negative from the start. Then when they went after it for latter stages of the season they started picking up points and giving everyone a game.

"I think that being brave and sticking to their beliefs, that's the key.

"Thomas Frank is the man to do that. He's not going to shy away from what he believes in.

"I thoroughly believe they've got the weapons in the armoury, they've got the right assets. They've got pace, they're energetic, they've got a real togetherness and understanding of how they want to play.

Brentford icon Hermann Hreidarsson believes the newly-promoted Bees will beat Arsenal

"I think they've got what it takes to really get after teams and to get after these points.

"If they keep playing their brave game, they'll pick up points.

"If they need to sit back, which you can do now and again, they're one of the best teams at counter-attacking that you'll come across.

"They've got really good weapons in their armoury to shock a few teams."

Hermann Hreidarsson previewed the 2021 Premier League season with CoinJar, Brentford FC's new Official Cryptocurrency Partner - the ultimate platform to buy, sell and spend Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Sign up in an instant and access digital currency wherever you go.

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