11 February 2023 , 06:00
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Arsenal welcome Brentford to the Emirates on Saturday for a fixture with added needle thanks to Ivan Toney.
The Brentford striker, 26, infamously took a dig at the Gunners on the opening day of the 2021-22 Premier League season, as his side marked their return to the top flight with an emphatic 2-0 victory over Mikel Arteta's team. After the game at a raucous Brentford Community Stadium on a sunny August evening, Toney cheekily tweeted: "Nice kickabout with the boys."
It garnered more than 81,000 likes, as Bees supporters and opposition fans alike all ridiculed Arsenal and revelled in Brentford's surprise triumph. But Toney wouldn't be laughing for long, as Arteta and co exacted their sweet revenge when the reverse fixture came around later in the season.
When Brentford made the trip across London in February, Arsenal were in much finer fettle. On course to finish in the Champions League places after turning their early-season woes around, the Gunners were backed to win the game but suggestions still loomed that Thomas Frank's men had them sussed out.
So, to give his squad some pre-match motivation, Arteta stuck the tweet on a projector screen during his team talk and ignited a fire in his players' bellies. "All week we have prepared, we have looked at everything, we want to play as much as possible," the Arsenal manager began, as witnessed by the Amazon documentary series, All or Nothing.
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Ivan Toney helped Brentford beat Arsenal on the opening day of last season (Getty Images)"I insist here, and this is great, but what is going to make the difference now is what happens in both boxes. Before I go, because it's still in my stomach, and I have managed to keep it in my stomach for six months. This is Toney's tweet after the game when we played them at Brentford.
"You know what he did, you know his tweet? 'Nice kickabout with the boys'. So, today they play in our house guys, and there is only one team on that f****** pitch. Only team, they don't play, we take the f****** ball, we take the game and we go for it. Let's win this f****** game let's go."
Mikel Arteta used Ivan Toney's tweet as pre-match motivation for the Gunners (Amazon Prime)Arteta's rallying cry worked a treat, as goals from Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe gave the Gunners a comfortable two-goal lead before Brentford midfielder Christian Norgaard netted a consolation strike in added-time. Although Toney didn't feature that day, he did when the sides faced each other again this past September.
After earning a 3-0 victory, one of many resounding wins this season, Arsenal's players gave the 26-year-old a taste of his own medicine. Defender Gabriel Magalhaes took to Twitter shortly after full-time and repeated, word for word, Toney's original tweet.
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The Bees talisman soon responded after making the England squad thanks to his superb start to the campaign. "I think once was funny, second time a bit cringey," Toney claimed with a wry smile. "But I bit my tongue."
Now both teams go into the game on Saturday with plenty of confidence, as Arsenal sit top of the table with a five-point lead and Brentford are in contention for the European places. Toney will be desperate not to blank again like in September, while Arteta's title-chasing men are aiming to get back to winning ways after a shock 1-0 defeat to Everton last time out.