Ivan Toney feared being "battered" by Arsenal fans for trophy jibe that is proving correct

Brentford got the better of Arsenal on the opening weekend of the season, and striker Ivan Toney took aim at the north London side after playing his part in the 2-0 victory.

Former Northampton Town striker Toney led the line as goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard gave the Bees victory - one of three defeats Mikel Arteta 's side would suffer in their first three games of the season.

Things have changed ahead of the teams' reverse fixture, with Arsenal launching a top-four challenge and Thomas Frank's men not yet safe from relegation.

However, with the Gunners already out of both domestic cups, Toney's comments about trophies - which he said he feared would get him "battered" by fans of Arteta's team - are so far being proved right.

There were of course some mitigating factors in Arsenal's defeat back in August.

The game at the Brentford Community Stadium went ahead despite a Covid outbreak in the Gunners squad, with Alexandre Lacazette and the now-departed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missing out.

The situation led to Folarin Balogun starting up front in a Premier League game for the first time, while Willian and Alex Runarsson - both of whom are now playing their football elsewhere - also missed the trip to west London after positive tests.

"Arsenal fans are going to batter me for this, but you see Arsenal at the moment and they’re not the best," Toney told Baller Talk in an interview which went live in September.

“There was a difference [between the Championship and the Premier League], don’t get me wrong. But it wasn’t crazy, thinking if you make a mistake, it’s going to end up in the back of the goal.

“I just didn’t see them how they used to be. You used to look at Arsenal and think [they were] crazy