Arsenal travel to Brighton on Saturday, bidding to cut down to just three points the gap to Liverpool at the top of the Premier League. It might be a temporary tightening of the summit given that the leaders play Manchester United on Sunday, but a run of wins is the best chance Mikel Arteta’s side have of provoking a slip from their rivals.
Three straight in the Premier League is encouraging, all the more so given Bukayo Saka’s long term absence, and there is cause to believe that the Amex Stadium may not be as challenging an away day as it often is. Fabian Hurzeler’s side are winless in their last seven Premier League matches but have drawn three straight, striking late to earn a draw at Aston Villa last time out. Another result like that would be a disaster for Arsenal.
Viewing information
- Date: Saturday, January 4 | Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Amex Stadium — Falmer, United Kingdom
- TV: NBC | Live stream: fuboTV
- Odds: Brighton +320; Draw +270; Arsenal -120
Team news
Brighton: The return of both Adam Wester and Jack Hinshelwood would be welcome news for Hurzeler, though in reality both are more likely to end up on the bench. There is also hope that an illness to Pervis Estupinan will not stop him from being available, welcome news with Ferdi Kadioglu still sidelined with a toe issue. Further forward Evan Ferguson is a doubt and Danny Welbeck unavailable, but a frontline that could include a returning Kaoru Mitoma and Joao Pedro, the latter scoreless since November, could cause Arsenal some difficulties. Saturday will also come too soon for Diego Gomez, signed from MLS side Inter Miami.
As to how Brighton might overcome Arsenal, Hurzeler said: “Push all limits in every phase of the game. Continue to play with courage and intensity. The results have not been good [recently] but the performances are there. We have shown we can beat every team in this league. If we don’t play with courage in possession, we have no chance.”
Possible Brighton XI: Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Baleba, Ayari; Minteh, O’Riley, Mitoma; Pedro
Arsenal: Kai Havertz is expected to shake off the illness that sidelined him from the New Year’s Day win over Brentford but as he enters the picture so Jurrien Timber steps out, suspended after picking up his fifth booking of the season on Wednesday. None of the players sidelined in recent weeks are particularly close to returning with Raheem Sterling out into next week and Ben White perhaps only back at the end of the month.
“We have to show the same level of consistency and a bit more,” said Arteta of what it will take to win the title, “because the last year we have been the best team in the league, broken various records and still haven’t won a major trophy, so something is missing.
“It’s going to be very thin, small details, you can pick up certain games and situations, but at the end, we’re so close and we just have to flip that coin to the other side to make it happen. That’s only going to happen if we do what we have to do and what we can control, the rest is out of our hands.”
Possible Arsenal XI: Raya; Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Odegaard, Merino; Martinelli, Havertz, Jesus
Prediction
Arsenal might not have the attacking punch they would with Saka, but they should be able to trust their defense to get a big road victory. PICK: Brighton 1, Arsenal 2
