Thomas Frank compares Arsenal's rise to that of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has revealed his admiration of Arsenal’s progress this season, comparing their rise to that of Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp.

The Gunners lead the Premier League standings by five points from champions Manchester City and have a game in hand over Pep Guardiola’s side, who visit the Emirates Stadium in a huge title showdown on Wednesday night.

Ahead of Brentford’s trip to north London on Saturday, Frank was asked for his thoughts on Arsenal’s recent successes.

“I think it’s big credit to Arsenal, I think maybe it was [William] Saliba who came back this summer [from his loan with Marseille]. He was maybe the missing link,” he began.

“With [Oleksandr] Zinchenko and [Gabriel] Jesus, I think that was three important players [who weren’t at Arsenal last season].

“With that, [Gabriel] Martinelli, [Bukayo] Saka and also [Martin] Odegaard, even that he is a little bit more experienced. You know, they are a year older, one more year in that culture, that group, that style of play.

“And it is all just clicking. It is almost like Liverpool. I don’t know what position they finished before they became champions [in 2020]. But that season they became champions, wasn’t that the season where [Virgil] van Dijk and Alisson came? More or less.

“So just two missing links and then ‘boom!’ that completed the jigsaw. That’s just perfect. Maybe it’s a little bit the same here.”