Brighton made it three draws on the run as their trip to the London Stadium ended 2-2 last time out, but the Seagulls probably should have won the game.
Brighton twice took the lead at West Ham through Maupay and Dunk but were twice pegged back by their hosts and had to settle for a point.
Arsenal finally ended their winless run when they played host to Chelsea on Saturday. The Gunners fired themselves into a 3-0 lead by the 56th-minute thanks to efforts from Lacazette, Xhaka and Saka, which meant that Abraham’s late strike was merely a consolation goal.
Arsenal remain one place above Brighton in the Premier League table, but the points gap between the pair has increased to four. Both teams remain firmly in the bottom half of the table but remain confident they can climb further up in the second half of the campaign.
Brighton have a very good recent record against Arsenal and haven’t lost against the London club since 2017. The Seagulls remain unbeaten in their last five games against the Gunners, winning three times and drawing twice. Those two stalemates between the pair both ended 1-1 and both teams have scored in each of the duo’s last five Premier League encounters.
Four of Brighton’s last six matches have also seen both teams score, as have five of Arsenal’s last six outings, suggesting that there might not be any clean sheets in Tuesday’s clash.
Three of Brighton’s last six league games have also produced under 2.5 goals, just as three of their last six games against the Gunners have, so Tuesday’s contest could be tight and tense.
The hosts will be without the services of Tariq Lamptey and Jose Izquierdo due to thigh injuries, as well as Romanian striker Florin And one with a knee injury. Aaron Connolly could make his return from injury for the Seagulls. Atsenal’s Gabriel is self-isolating, Thomas Partey has a thigh injury, David Luiz and Willian are both ill and none will make the trip to Brighton.
Take a bow, Granit Xhaka 👏#ARSCHE pic.twitter.com/RygODiTvHi— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 27, 2020
Take a bow, Granit Xhaka 👏#ARSCHE pic.twitter.com/RygODiTvHi
The fact that four of Brighton’s last six matches have ended in stalemate and that Arsenal have only won one of their last six outings, points towards Tuesday’s fixture ended in a draw. All of the stats above suggest that both teams will score and that the most likely final scoreline will be a 1-1 draw.