Mikel Arteta will take his Arsenal side to the Brentford Community Stadium on Sunday afternoon for the first time since that horror show on the opening day of last season.
The Gunners were beaten 2-0 by newly-promoted Brentford in the first game of the 2021/22 campaign - a complete nightmare for Arteta's men who were dominated all over the park. Sergi Canos scored the Bees' first-ever Premier League goal with a rasping strike past Bernd Leno, before Christian Norgaard doubled their advantage midway through the second-half.
It was a famous win for the Bees, who embarrassed a hapless Gunners side and secured a vital three points in front of the Sky Sports cameras. Ivan Toney was one of Brentford's star performers that night as the now-England forward caused Ben White and Pablo Mari all kinds of problems.
After the game, Toney sparked controversy with a tongue-in-cheek post-match tweet that completely stirred the pot. He said: "Nice kickabout with the boys."
Toney managed to ruffle a few feathers, including those of Arteta, with the Arsenal boss using that post as motivation for his players to beat Brentford in the reverse fixture. The Gunners had made a miraculous recovery from their dreadful start and sat on the brink of the top four spots heading into the second game with Thomas Frank's men.
In his pre-match speech, Arteta said on the All or Nothing Amazon documentary: "All week we have prepared, we have looked at everything, we want to play as much as possible. 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 (show'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 this afternoon'. So, today they play in our house guys, and there is only one team in that f****** pithead. 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."
It is safe to say Arteta's message worked a treat as the Gunners ran out 2-1 winners over Brentford on February 19. Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka had put Arsenal into a commanding two-goal lead, before Norgaard pulled a goal back in the 93rd-minute. But it was too little too late as Arsenal secured an important three points and gained revenge on the Bees after that opening day defeat.
There is no doubt that the Gunners will be keen to avenge that result when they head to west London for a 12pm kick-off. The Arsenal XI is expected to look a whole lot different than it did last August, with Granit Xhaka, Gabriel Martinelli and Ben White the only three set to keep their place from that game.
Gabriel Jesus, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko have given the Gunners a huge boost at the start of the season, with Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka also impressing. They have much more of a settled side, and are in a far better place compared to how they started last season, with Arteta looking to take the Gunners forward.
