Brighton will resume their Premier League campaign this Saturday as they host Arsenal in the Amex stadium.
The Seagulls currently sit in 15th place with 29 points from 29 games. They will be heading into this tie hoping to pick up all three points and move further away from the bottom.
Arsenal meanwhile heads into this game back from a chastening defeat to Man City in their last game. With their chance of qualification for a European spot almost blown away by their recent loss, Mikel Arteta’s boys have it all to play for if they want to get anything out of this season. Their impossible mission for a top-six or seven finish must begin with a win at the Amex this weekend.
Team News
Graham Potter has a near-full squad to select from with recovering Jose Izquierdo and Steven Alzate injury absentees for this tie.
Mikel Arteta has an injury crisis in his hands with Pablo Mari and Granit Xhaka limping off with ankle injuries in their loss against Manchester City. David Luiz also misses out after picking up a straight red card in the same match. Sokratis Papastathopoulos is an also injury doubt for this tie while Calum Chambers is expected to return early next month.
Head to Head
The last five meetings between both teams have seen Brighton win two times with Arsenal winning once. The two other meetings of the five ended in draws. The weekend hosts won the reverse fixture by two goals to one.
Team Form
Brighton last five competitive games: DLDDD
Arsenal last five competitive games: LWWLW
Betting Preview
On paper Brighton head into this tie as outsiders having picked up just four points from the last available 15. They are currently on a nine-game winless run in the league.
Their record of 32 goals in 29 games is modest when compared to other teams around them. However their undoing so far this season has been at the other end of the pitch where they have shipped in 40 goals with the vast majority however coming away from home.
In Brighton’s last nine games in the league, seven featured fewer than 2.5 goals. At home, Graham Potter’s side has seen 78% of their matches end with less than 2.5 goals—with 42.86% of those games ending in a goalless first half.
Prior to Arsenal’s recent loss, the Gunners were on a promising three game-winning run in the league. The recent loss also ended a run of five consecutive draws in the league.
They have conceded 39 times in 29 league matches with less than half of those coming away from home.
The Gunners are one of the worst performers in the first half on the road. To put this in context, if their away matches ended in the first half, they will sit in 18th position having won only two times (D8, L4) away from home this season. Their record of 13 draws in the league this season is matched only by Wolverhampton this season.
Meanwhile 18 of their total league matches this season has seen both teams score—with ten coming away from home.
Suggested bets
Both Teams to score/Yes @ 3/4
Brighton to win first half/Arsenal to win second half @ 28/1
Under 2.5 Goals @ 9/10
