They’re not going to win today, they’ll be Humiliated,Mark my words”, Chelsea legend Didier Drogba reveals His prediction for Arsenal vs Brighton Clash Today
Last year Arsenal managed to do it for the second time in a row at the beach club in Brighton, this time in bitter surroundings, having won just two out of five Premier League matches before last; the previous seven fixtures between these teams have produced 23 goals between them.
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Arsenal Preview
If winning the New Year matchpiece is just the beginning of many such victories, then it holds well for Arsenal on catching runaway league-leaders Liverpool. On New Year’s Day, Gunners came from being down a goal to defeat Brentford, 3-1 in West London-Gabriel Jesus heads equalizer before lightning strikes of a goal close to half-time by Mikel Merino and then Gabriel Martinelli sealed off the winnings. Arsenal are now unbeaten for the last nine Premier League, 12 across all competitions, although they are still six points behind in the race as their recent draws with Fulham and Everton derailed their title ambitions. Stacked up next is Newcastle, Man United, Spurs, and Aston Villa-all in the next fortnight. This means Mikel Arteta’s team have huge matches lined up for them, but will they return from Sussex with three precious points?
Brighton & Hove Albion meantime finished last calendar year without a win in its final seven matches, so can it begin the near year with a win? On Monday night, the Seagulls held Aston Villa to a credible 2-2 draw in the Midlands, taking the lead through Simon Adingra, before needing a late equaliser from Tariq Lamptey, the most unlikely of scorers, to salvage a share of the spoils. For the third straight match, Fabian Hürzeler’s side has ended with a draw with five of its seven outings finished with draws since its last victory, which came at Bournemouth on 23 November. This has seen Brighton sink down from fourth to tenth, but a victory over Arsenal on Saturday evening would certainly give their campaign a spark.
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Arsenal Head-to-Head Record
Matches Played: 31.
Brighton & Hove Albion Wins: 8. Draws: 6. Arsenal Wins: 17.
Brighton & Hove Albion Team News
Defenders Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Adam Webster and Pervis Estupiñán are all sidelined, but Joël Veltman was back on the bench on Monday, so he could return, with Lamptey switching over the left-back, after Igor was forced to fill-in there. Elsewhere, Jack Hinshelwood, Mats Wieffer, James Milner and Danny Welbeck are also sidelined, while Diego Gómez isn’t yet ready to make his debut, having only just arrived from Inter Miami.
Fabian Hürzeler made a triple substitution on the hour mark against Aston Villa, introducing Georginio Rutter, Yankuba Minteh and Kaoru Mitoma, so how many of that trio will start this time?
Brighton & Hove Albion predicted lineup vs Arsenal: (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Veltman, Dunk, van Hecke, Lamptey; Baleba, Ayari, Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma; João Pedro.
Brighton & Hove Albion Players to Watch vs Arsenal
One of the four goals that the Brazilian collected this season, João Pedro bagged the equaliser when these two teams drew 1-1 in North London back in August; can he increase his tally?
Arsenal Team News
But Jurriën Timber picked up his fifth card of the campaign on Wednesday and will now be suspended at a time when Benjamin White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are ruled out of the action for the long term. He will probably have Thomas Partey playing right-back since Partey is likely to fill the right-back position. Ethan Nwaneri’s been given his first ever Premier League start against Brentford, with the huge gap left by the injured Bukayo Saka behind to occupy, while Kai Havertz missed the mid-week fixture due to sickness. If the German comes back into contention, he will likely play at the front, while Gabriel Jesus could be wide right. Last but not least, Myles Lewis-Skelly had started four successive games in the UEFA Champions League or Premier League at left-back before a fit again Riccardo Calafiori got the nod on New Year’s Day with the Italian likely to keep it.
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Brighton & Hove Albion: (4-3-3): Raya; Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Merino, Ødegaard; Jesus, Martinelli, Havertz.
Arsenal’s Player to Watch vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Gabriel Martinelli is gearing up to score for the third consecutive time in away matches at Premier League level, having scored in all of the latest trips away from home at Crystal Palace and Brentford by the end of the season.
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Arsenal Predictions
We are backing Arsenal for another hard-fought away victory, similar to their victory at Brentford three nights earlier, with Brighton not as strong as they were a few months ago: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-2 Arsenal.
