A new-year trip to the seaside is next up as we head to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday (5.30pm UK), but rather take a chilly dip in the Channel, we’re looking to keep the heat on Liverpool at the top of the table.
With the Reds in action on Sunday, we could move three points behind the leaders should we claim a third successive victory at the Amex Stadium, and stretch our unbeaten run to 10 Premier League games in the process.
The Seagulls haven’t tasted victory for seven games heading into this fixture, but have lost just once at home in the league, meaning we’ll have to be as red-hot as we have in recent weeks to avoid freezing on the south coast.
BRIGHTON BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
Fabian Hurzeler took to the Premier League like a duck to water by suffering just one defeat in his opening nine games in charge, and that good form continued. It was only a month ago that his side occupied fourth spot in the table having beaten Manchester City and Bournemouth back-to-back, but things have faltered since.
December was a disappointing month for the Seagulls, as they picked up just five points from their six matches as draws started to plague their campaign. They are hard to beat as just two defeats have come in that period – away at Fulham and against their bitter rivals Crystal Palace at the Amex – but are struggling to prevent goals going in to turn one point into three.
Southampton, Leicester City and West Ham United have all held them recently, but they would have seen the point claimed against Aston Villa last time out on Monday as one earned as Tariq Lampey’s 81st-minute equaliser gave them a share of the spoils at Villa Park, leaving them 10th heading into this weekend.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Mikel Arteta’s pre-Brighton press conference
Arteta: “We have to show the same level of consistency and a bit more, because in the last year we have been the best team in the league, broken various records and still haven’t won a major trophy, so something is missing.
“It’s going to be very thin, small details, you can pick up in certain games and situations, but at the end, we’re so close and we just have to flip that coin to the other side to make it happen. That’s only going to happen if we do what we have to do and what we can control, the rest is out of our hands.”
Hurzeler: “I think it’s very important that we play with our identity our identity means to play intense. If you don’t play intense, we have no chance against Arsenal. If you don’t play with courage in possession, we have no chance.
“I think these two things are the main thing. Another big part of the game are set-pieces. When you see how much danger they can create by a set-piece, then we have to take care of these things. It’s also a big part. So these three things are very important.”
TEAM NEWS
Arteta hopes to have Kai Havertz available again after the German striker missed out against Brentford through illness, but Jurrien Timber won’t be making the trip through suspension after collecting five yellow cards.
Raheem Sterling is still a week or two away from recovering from his knee problem, while Takehiro Tomiyasu has also returned to some light training but isn’t yet ready to return. Ben White is still a few weeks away from his comeback following knee surgery, while Bukayo Saka is a longer-term casualty.
New Seagulls signing Diego Gomez is unlikely to feature as he hasn’t played for a couple of months following the end of Inter Miami’s season. Danny Welbeck has missed the past four matches with an ankle injury and this one comes too soon for him to return, while fellow striker Evan Ferguson has a foot issue.
Mats Wieffer, Pervis Estupinan and Adam Webster could all be involved though after missing out in recent weeks, but Adam Hinshelwood (knee), James Milner (hamstring) and Ferdi Kadioglu (toe) will all be unavailable.
TALKING TACTICS
Adrian Clarke: Brighton are a vibrant, well-coached team blessed with lots of exciting young players, so we can expect a physical, competitive contest. They are not as fixated on possession than under previous head coaches, with Hurzeler keener on getting the ball forward a little quicker.
Joao Pedro [above] is an outstanding talent. His movement, skill in tight spaces, and ice-cool finishing mark him down as a major threat, while Kaoru Mitoma’s pace and dribbling down the left will be a serious test for whoever stands in for the suspended Jurrien Timber.
When Brighton get the ball wide, it’s going to be important for us to defend the box properly. They will throw four or five men into the danger zone looking to get on the end of crosses. That positive style is a great strength, but sometimes it can be a weakness too. Only three sides have faced more shots from fast breaks than the Seagulls, who have conceded four times from counter-attacks.
The formation could look like a 4-4-2 but in reality, it will be more of a 4-2-3-1. Hurzeler’s side press well, ranking third for the most pressures, so we must be wary of turnovers, but this attacking style of play will allow us more space than we’ve had of late going forward. With just one clean sheet in their last 11 games, I do fancy us to score goals.
FACTS AND STATS
Having been unbeaten in five consecutive home league games against us, Brighton have now lost three of their last four.
We have won three of our last five Premier League games against Brighton, as many as we had in their first 10 against the Seagulls in the competition (D3 L4).
Brighton haven’t lost their first league game in any of the last eight calendar years since a 1-0 home loss to Wolves on New Year’s Day 2016 in the Championship.
The Seagulls scored just 21 home league goals in 2024, a drop of 25 from 2023 when they scored 46. They failed to score in six home games in 2024, having only failed to score in one in 2023.
No side won more points in the Premier League in 2024 than us (85). Only Liverpool (92) scored more goals than our 89 across the calendar year, while we had the best goal difference (+64).
The Seagulls haven’t drawn four league games in a row since October 2014 in the Championship under Sami Hyypia.
In their first 19 Premier League games under Fabian Hurzeler, Brighton have drawn nine times. Only three managers have drawn 10 of their first 20 games in the Premier League – John Lyall in 1992 (11), John Deehan in 1994 (10) and Egil Olsen in 1999 (10).
Kai Havertz has scored in each of his last four games against Brighton, netting in all three against the Seagulls so far for us.
Since the start of last season, Joao Pedro has more Premier League goals and assists combined than any other Brighton player (13 goals, 8 assists).
MATCH OFFICIALS
For the third time already this season, Anthony Taylor takes charge of a Gunners game, having previously overseen our 2-2 draw against Liverpool and 5-2 success at West Ham United. We have only lost twice on the last 17 occasions he has been the man in the middle – one of which was our 4-2 success at the Amex Stadium in December 2022.
He has yet to manage a game involving the Seagulls this season, and they won one, drew one and lost one of the three he refereed last term. He has dished out a league-high eight penalties this season, two of which were for us at the London Stadium in November.
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn
Fourth official: Sam Barrott
VAR: Darren England
Assistant VAR: Akil Howson
RECENT TRIPS TO BRIGHTON
Having lost two of their first three visits to the Amex in the Premier League, we have since won three of our last four trips, including the last two.
Last season saw us claim an emphatic 3-0 win thanks to a Saka penalty plus strikes from Havertz and Leandro Trossard, while on New Year’s Eve 2022 we ran out 4-2 victors when Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah all netted.
A 0-0 draw in October 2021 had been preceded by a 1-0 win in December 2020 when Alexandre Lacazette was on target, meaning you have to go back to June 2020 for the last time the Sussex side triumphed over us on their turf.
LIVE COVERAGE
Live From N5
Tune into Live From N5 just before kick-off to hear live commentary of the game provided by Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke, who will guide you through all the action if you’re out and about.
You can also find out which broadcasters are showing the game live wherever you are in the world.