Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Premier League clash between Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Facing the team who subjected them to their most recent Premier League home defeat, Arsenal welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to their Emirates base on Sunday afternoon.
A win for the Gunners would enable them to return to the top of the rankings – for a couple of hours at least – while the Seagulls head to North London on the back of another momentous European occasion.
Match preview
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta may have escaped retrospective action for his explosive post-match rant after last month’s 1-0 loss to Newcastle United, but the suspended Spaniard could do nought but helplessly watch on from the director’s box during last weekend’s defeat to Aston Villa by the same scoreline.
A John McGinn opener inside the first 10 minutes ended up being the decisive moment, although a miffed Arteta witnessed his side squander plenty of openings and also fall victim to a couple more contentious decisions, leading the 41-year-old to question the “clear and obvious” threshold after the game.
By virtue of losing in the West Midlands, the Gunners were usurped at the top of the Premier League pile by Liverpool and also have just a one-point buffer over recent conquerors Villa, but with the former kicking off against Manchester United at 4.30pm, Arteta’s men will surge to the summit with another maximum on Sunday.
Alternatively, the Gunners could go three games without a victory for the first time this season, having settled for a 1-1 draw in their closing Champions League Group B encounter with PSV Eindhoven, although Arteta will not be losing any sleep over the outcome of that dead rubber with both sides already through to the last 16.
Yet to suffer their first home defeat of the season in any competition, Arsenal will endeavour to stretch their victorious Emirates run to seven matches this weekend, and the Gunners have shipped just two goals in their last six games in North London, fewer than what Brighton managed in just 90 minutes seven months back.
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Despite his acrimonious exit from North London, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may have sought to avenge his side’s recent home humblings at the hands of Brighton when his Marseille side travelled to the Amex for Thursday’s crunch Europa League tie, in what was a straight shootout for a last-16 berth.
The victory that Roberto De Zerbi‘s men craved appeared out of their reach, but with 88 minutes on the board, Joao Pedro‘s sixth goal of the tournament – more than any other player – ensured that Brighton would finish above two former Champions League winners in Marseille and Ajax at the top of Group B.
Joining upcoming foes Arsenal in the European group-winners club, Brighton’s three-game homestand now ends with a first away fixture since a 3-2 defeat to Chelsea a fortnight ago, since when the injury-hit Seagulls have scraped past Brentford before being made to pay for profligacy in a 1-1 draw at home to Burnley.
Succumbing to a goalkeeping masterclass from James Trafford in the latter affair, Brighton are hovering just outside the European spots in eighth place in the table, and De Zerbi’s side head to North London having incredibly both scored and conceded in each of their last 20 top-flight matches.
In fact, the Seagulls’ 3-0 win over Arteta’s men in May represents the last time that they managed to shut out the opposition in a Premier League fixture, and that triumph marked a third victory on the spin for Brighton away to Arsenal, who have only ever endured a worse run of Emirates defeats against Manchester City.
Arsenal Premier League form:
Arsenal form (all competitions):
Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:
Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):
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Team News
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Priority number one for Arteta and Arsenal in Eindhoven would have been to travel home without any fresh injury concerns, but the Gunners lost Mohamed Elneny to a hamstring problem – the severity of which is unknown – in that European stalemate.
Elneny would have only made the bench here at best, though, while Emile Smith Rowe also made a quicker-than-expected return from his knee problem during Tuesday’s fixture, where Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were not risked due to a foot concern and illness respectively.
There is nothing to suggest that the pair will not be involved on Sunday, where Arteta will make alterations in abundance, but Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf), Thomas Partey (thigh), Fabio Vieira (groin) and Jurrien Timber (knee) are guaranteed to miss out.
As for Brighton, no serious concerns arose from their historic beating of Marseille on Thursday, although match-winner Pedro appeared a little worse for wear as he was taken off in injury time and will need a once-over ahead of the trip to North London.
Danny Welbeck will miss out on a reunion with his former employers, though, while Ansu Fati (thigh), Pervis Estupinan (thigh), Tariq Lamptey (thigh), Julio Enciso (knee) and Solly March (knee) remain in the treatment room too.
Adam Webster (knock) should be the first stricken player to exit the medical bay, but there are no guarantees that the defender will be fit to face Arsenal, where the fresh legs of Joel Veltman, Adam Lallana and Evan Ferguson ought to be utilised.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Milner; Baleba, Gross; Adingra, Lallana, Mitoma; Ferguson
We say: Arsenal 3-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton may have had their way with Arsenal at the Emirates in recent times, but defensive stability has evaded them since their last Emirates stopover, and a lack of recuperation time will no doubt harm De Zerbi’s troops too.
The Seagulls boss can still call upon several competent options for change, but with Arteta also reverting to a full-strength team at their newly-fortified base, we expect the Gunners to bring the Seagulls crashing down to earth.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
