"For Arsenal it is just almost always dominant performances at the moment. They are so strong defensively and they put pressure on and score at the right moments." Former England international Conor Coady added: "It's the control for me. They're just in control of everything they do.

The top team in the English Premier League looks to grab a midweek victory on Wednesday, as Arsenal gets set to host Brentford. Arsenal has not quite found a way to distance itself from the pack, but the club that has come close to finishing at the top of the mountain in recent years is doing its best to stay in first place.

English Premier League leader Arsenal is back at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday to kick off a big day of league action with a match against 12th-place Brentford.

With around 20 minutes to play, Merino ought to have doubled his personal tally for the night and Arsenal’s lead. When Kelleher parried a low strike from Declan Rice, the rebound fell for Merino, only for him to stumble as he stretched for the loose ball and knock it out of play.

Declan Rice was forced off with a suspected calf injury during Arsenal's 2-0 Premier League win against Brentford and the England star has since shared messages on Instagram

In LaLiga, Real Madrid returned to winning ways with a 3-0 with over Athletic Club while Barcelona remained top of the league with a 3-1 win against Atletico Madrid. In the headline clash in the DfB-Pokal, Bayer Leverkusen eliminated Borussia Dortmund with a 1-0 win.

Arsenal, Manchester United and Real Madrid are competing for the signature of Eintracht Frankfurt's 22-year-old Germany defender Nathaniel Brown. (Bild - in German, subscription required)Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip columnFollow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Arsenal travel to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday lunchtime but there's optimism Declan Rice has avoided injury on a night where centre-back Cristhian Mosquera also limped off