Brighton vs Arsenal – Match Preview
Arsenal will travel to the south coast on Wednesday looking to build on back-to-back derby wins. These sides have met twice already this season. The first meeting came in the EFL Cup, where Hale End proved to be the difference. Nwaneri and Saka got the goals in a 2-0 Arsenal win. In the reverse league fixture at the Emirates, Arsenal won 2-1. A strike from the skipper Odegaard and an own goal from Rutter put Arsenal into a 2-0 lead after 52 minutes. Gomez scored in the 64th minute, but it only proved to be a consolation for Brighton. The Seagulls have failed to beat The Gunners in their last 6 attempts, with their last win coming in May 2023 in a 3-0 win at the Emirates. Enciso, Undav and Estupinan got the goals in a win that all but ended Arsenal’s title hopes. Brighton come into this fixture off the back of back-to-back league wins. The last time Brighton won two consecutive league games was in November, where they beat Brentford 2-1 and Nottingham Forest 2-0. The first of those back-to-back wins came against high-flying Brentford, where goals from Gomez and Welbeck sealed a 2-0 win. The other win came against relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest. Gomez and Welbeck got the goals again in a 2-1 home win. Arsenal come into this fixture off the back of back-to-back derby wins. The first of those came in N17 against close rivals Tottenham. Eze and Gyokeres both bagged twice in a 4-1 win. The other win came on Super Sunday against Chelsea, where Arsenal utilised their set piece threat. Saliba opened the scoring, getting on the end of a Gabriel header across goal, from a Saka corner. Chelsea equalised just before the interval, Hincapie heading the ball into his own net. On 66 minutes, Timber was first to meet Rice’s corner to give Arsenal a 2-1 win. Brighton have had a mixed bag of results at home in the league. The Seagulls have won 6, drawn 6 and lost 2 of their 14 home league games. On the other hand, Mikel Arteta’s men have the best away record in the league. The North London outfit have won 8, drawn 5 and lost 2 of their 15 away league games. Fabian Hurzeler on Brighton’s narrow win against Nottingham Forest: “We want to create a desire to defend as a team and to bring an energy to the pitch that involves everybody in the stadium. “The supporters were great, they helped and pushed us over the line to win this game. In the last moments of the game we showed this desire to defend the box and block shots.” Mikel Arteta on Arsenal’s derby win against Chelsea: The players made an incredible performance as well and put so much into the game. After the great victory against Spurs, this would be even another level of difficulty. “Against 10 men, I expected a different game. “Look at the quality on the pitch – immense, but set-pieces are still the ones that made the difference. They are so good at that, and we are so good at that as well.” Jurrien Timber: It’s a privilege to be standing here for Arsenal with my team mates fighting for all these titles, we have to learn to enjoy it and keep pushing.”
