Brentford 1-3 Arsenal: Player Ratings as Gunners Begin 2025 With a Bang

Arsenal secured the first Premier League win of the new calendar year despite no Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz.

Riccardo Calafiori (left) and Gabriel Martinelli (right) celebrate Arsenal's third goal of the evening. / IMAGO/Action Plus

Arsenal picked up the first Premier League win of 2025 with a victory over Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Arsenal fell behind early with a blistering counter-attack goal from Bryan Mbeumo, but the Gunners equalized through Gabriel Jesus to go into the halftime break level. Coming out of the tunnel for the second half, the Gunners were lethal. Mikel Merino scored from a set piece in the 50th minute and Gabriel Martinelli doubled the lead just three minutes later.

The Gunners remained relatively comfortable from there on out as Mikel Arteta continues to manage a side missing star player Bukayo Saka. The win takes Arsenal six points behind Liverpool for the league lead, though Arne Slot's team has a game in hand.

Player ratings below from both sides in the first fixture of 2025.

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Brentford Player Ratings vs. Arsenal (4-3-1-2)

Ratings Provided by Fotmob

Player	Rating
GK: Mark Flekken	6.3/10
RB: Mads Roerslev	5.7/10
CB: Nathan Collins	6.2/10
CB: Sepp van den Berg	6.4/10
LB: Keane Lewis-Potter	5.9/10
CM: Vitaly Janelt	6.3/10
CM: Yegor Yarmolyuk	6.8/10
CM: Christian Nørgaard	6.3/10
CAM: Mikkel Damsgaard	7.2/10
ST: Yoane Wissa	6.0/10
ST: Bryan Mbeumo	7.5/10
SUB: Ji-Soo Kim (75' for Van den Berg)	5.9/10
SUB: Edmond-Paris Maghoma (75' for Nørgaard)	6.0/10
SUB: Mathias Jensen (75' for Damsgaard)	6.2/10
SUB: Kevin Schade (75' for Wissa)	5.9/10

Arsenal Player Ratings vs. Ipswich Town (4-3-3)

Ratings Provided by Fotmob

Player	Rating
GK: David Raya	6.9/10
RB: Jurrien Timber	7.5/10
CB: William Saliba	7.6/10
CB: Gabriel	7.3/10
LB: Riccardo Calafiori	7.2/10
CM: Thomas Partey	7.9/10
CM: Martin Ødegaard	7.1/10
CM: Mikel Merino	8.1/10
RW: Ethan Nwaneri	7.3/10
ST: Gabriel Jesus	8.2/10
LW: Gabriel Martinelli	8.6/10
SUB: Myles Lewis-Skelly (78' for Calafiori)	6.3/10
SUB: Declan Rice (78' for Merino)	5.8/10
SUB: Leandro Trossard (78' for Nwaneri)	6.0/10
SUB: Jorginho (88' for Ødegaard)	N/A
SUB: Oleksandr Zinchenko (90' for Jesus)	N/A

Player of the Match: Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal)

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