Match Preview: Brighton vs Arsenal

Successive away trips to start the New Year sees us face Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday evening in the Premier League.

We kicked off 2025 in style, as we came back from behind to beat Brentford on New Year's Day. A win tomorrow would extend our unbeaten Premier League run to 10 games and narrow the gap to Liverpool to just three points.

The Seagulls have been winless in the Premier League since late November, but have lost just once on home turf this season. They've recorded home triumphs over Manchester City, Manchester United and Spurs, demonstrating their ability to rise to big occasions.

New Year, New Brighton?

Fabian Hurzeler was appointed by Brighton in June 2024, making him the youngest head coach ever to take charge in the Premier League. The German made a seamless start to life in the top flight, losing just one of his sides nine opening games.

After impressive victories over Man City and Bournemouth, Brighton climbed into the top four ahead of a demanding December. However, their inexperience and lack of squad depth took a toll, leaving them 10th and winless in six games.

The new year could prove to be exciting for Brighton. With just five points separating fifth from tenth in the league, every team has a fighting chance of securing European football for next season.

Their last game in the Premier League was against Aston Villa, in which they earnt a point on the road after a 2-2 draw. They will be eager to put together a winning run in 2025, starting with Arsenal.

What the managers say

Mikel Arteta:

On if Ethan Nwaneri is the most natural replacement for Bukayo Saka:

"He's a player that can play in various positions. It's not a position that he's played a lot when he was at academy level, but he can adapt to the demands that we have in two or three positions. I think he did really well there [v Brentford]"

On what to expect from Brighton: "They're a really a tough opponent. When you see the record they have at home, the way of playing, the capacity to adapt to different shapes, it's really impressive. I think he's [Fabian Hurzeler] done something slightly different to before and I really like them."

Fabian Hurzeler:

On what he's learnt half way through his first Premier League season: "Teams from lower positions in the table can beat the top teams, and that's something that is very special."

On if his glass is half empty or half full: "I see the glass as half full. I'm a positive guy and see more positives than negatives in life. I'm sure that the glass will be really, really full one day."

Team News

Kai Havertz was the only unexpected absentee for our trip to Brentford, but Arteta confirmed he should be available for Saturday's match against Brighton.

Arteta also announced that Raheem Sterling has begun to do some work on the pitch after his injury. The English winger has been out since our quarter-final triumph over Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup.

Bukayo Saka and Ben White remain weeks away from returning to the fold.

Brighton's Jack Hinshelwood is "close" to a return and Adam Webster will be available for our visit on Saturday.

Hurzeler is unsure whether Pervis Estupinan will be ready after recovering from an illness but he is "hopeful”. While Evan Ferguson's injury is "not an easy issue".

Former Gunner Danny Welbeck, is being monitored "day by day" but there is "no clear return scheduled".

Statistics and Facts

We have won three of our last five Premier League games against Brighton (D1 L1), as many as in our first 10.

Brighton have scored just 21 goals at the Amex in the Premier League in 2024, 25 fewer than the year before.

No team earned more points than us in the Premier League in 2024 (85), matching our record for most wins in a calendar year (26, equal to our invincible year in 2004).

We have failed to keep a clean sheet in our last eight away matches, having recorded nine in the ten trips beforehand.

Kai Havertz has scored in his last four Premier League games against Brighton.

Match Officials

Anthony Taylor will officiate our encounter with Brighton on Saturday evening.

The Manchester-born referee has overseen two of our Premier League games this season: our 5-2 win over West Ham and our 2-2 draw with Liverpool in October.

He awarded us two penalty kicks in our demolition of West Ham.

On average, he shows 3.64 cards per game. He has also shown two red cards across the 17 matches he has refereed this season.

Referee: Anthony Taylor

Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn

Fourth Official: Sam Barrott

VAR: Darren England

Assistant VAR: Akil Howson