Arsenal kicked off the return of the Premier League in midweek with a 3-0 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad. Now, Mikel Arteta must pick up his battered and bruised Gunners for a trip south to the Amex Stadium.
Brighton are in a fight for Premier League survival for a third straight season. Despite struggling to pick up points this season, they will feel confident up against Arsenal. The Seagulls collected a 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in December.
Graham Potter’s team are just two points ahead of the bottom three and desperately need to win against Arsenal to improve their chances of staying up. Brighton are winless in six straight games with just four points from 18 possible collected.
Arteta goes into the game with a crisis brewing in defence. January transfer signing centre-back Pablo Mari is ruled out of the game with a leg muscle strain. Calum Chambers is also ruled out due to a long-term knee injury.
Making matters worse was David Luiz’s awful performance on Wednesday night. His error led to a Manchester City goal before he was sent off. Luiz will serve a suspension with Arteta needing Skodran Mustafi to man the centre of defence.
The defensive issues for Arsenal are not finished as the Gunners could be without full-back Cedric Soares. He sustained a facial injury in training.
While Arteta has made Arsenal difficult to defeat, they have still struggled to win games away from home. Arsenal are unbeaten in six straight away games with five of those matches ending in draws. The Gunners have the Premier League’s joint-most draws alongside Wolverhampton Wanderers (13).
Brighton are winless in four straight games at the Amex. The good news for Potter is the Seagulls’ home form versus Arsenal. They are unbeaten at home versus Arsenal in back to back games collecting four points from six possible.
The Seagulls have been a bogey team for Arsenal in recent seasons going unbeaten in four straight Premier League matches. Two of those games ended in wins.
Potter has just one injury problem with long-term absentee Jose Izquierdo set to miss the game. The 27-year-old won’t be back until next season.
👇 The boss on Saturday's game - we return to @premierleague action tomorrow!#BHAFC 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/ovDjelhhdg— Brighton & Hove Albion (at 🏡) (@OfficialBHAFC) June 19, 2020
👇 The boss on Saturday's game - we return to @premierleague action tomorrow!#BHAFC 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/ovDjelhhdg
With Arsenal’s scoring problems on the road laid bare on Wednesday night, Saturday’s match should be low scoring. Arsenal’s issues with Brighton should continue as the two teams finish in a draw with under 2.5 goals.