Venturing outside of London for the first time in 10 matches, Arsenal head to the South Coast to pit their wits against Brighton & Hove Albion in Saturday evening's Premier League showdown.
Mikel Arteta's men kicked off the New Year with a resounding 3-1 success over Brentford, a couple of days after the Seagulls produced a stellar fightback of their own in a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa.
Match preview
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On the back of winning more Premier League points than any other team in the last calendar year - an extraordinary 85 - Arsenal coincidentally scooped up the first three points on offer in 2025, knocking down a few more walls of the Brentford fortress.
The Gunners' recent defensive vulnerabilities on the road were ruthlessly exposed by Bryan Mbeumo early doors, but the rejuvenated Gabriel Jesus brought the title outsiders back on terms before quickfire Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli strikes sealed the Arsenal deal.
Arteta's crop may revel in their fourth straight win in all competitions - and third success on the spin in the Premier League - but leaders Liverpool going from strength to strength means that the second-placed Gunners remain six points behind the Reds, who still have a game in hand, in the top-flight table.
While Arsenal can only hope for one of their top-flight rivals to do them a favour against Arne Slot's side in the near future, they have mostly been going about their own business with aplomb and professionalism, going unbeaten in 12 successive matches and winning nine of them.
However, Saturday's game will astonishingly be Arsenal's first outside of London since their 5-1 demolition of Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on November 26; each of their last nine contests has been in the English capital, their longest-ever run of successive games in the city.
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Former Gunners boss Unai Emery also oversaw a four-goal thriller at Villa Park on Monday evening, where Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers had seemingly clipped the Seagulls' wings after Simon Adingra drew first blood for Fabian Hurzeler's team.
However, up stepped an unlikely source in Tariq Lamptey, who notched a fabulous equaliser in the final 10 minutes of normal time as Brighton closed out 2024 with a third straight stalemate, having also taken one point off of Brentford and West Ham United either side of Christmas.
The European charge has faltered significantly amid a seven-match winless sequence for the Seagulls, though, as Saturday's hosts lie smack-bang in the middle of the Premier League table, five points adrift of Newcastle United in the Europa League position.
Hurzeler's team have played out more stalemates than any other Premier League team in the current campaign - an unrivalled nine - and the Brighton boss could now become the first manager in the division since 1999 to draw as many as 10 of his first 20 matches in the competition.
One of those former one-pointers coincidentally came at the Emirates earlier this season, where Declan Rice's bewildering red card stole the headlines, but Arsenal have come up trumps in each of their last two visits to the Amex, scoring at least three goals on both occasions.
Team News
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One sour note of Arsenal's midweek triumph was the suspension-inducing yellow card picked up by Jurrien Timber, whose absence leaves Arsenal without a single recognised right-back while Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu recuperate from knee injuries.
Unless Arteta springs a surprise and starts 18-year-old Joshua Nichols, Thomas Partey should operate as a makeshift full-back once again, opening the door for Rice or Kai Havertz - absent from the Brentford win due to illness - to come back into the midfield.
With Bukayo Saka (hamstring) and Raheem Sterling (knee) both confined to the infirmary, Arteta handed Ethan Nwaneri his maiden Premier League start at Brentford, but it would be a surprise to see the 17-year-old hold his spot given the quick turnaround time.
While Arsenal have suffered a full-back blow, Brighton boss Hurzeler is holding out hope that Pervis Estupinan will be fit to face the Gunners after sitting out of the encounter with Villa due to illness.
Adam Webster is also in with a slight chance of coming back from the hamstring injury that has rendered him unavailable for 13 matches, while Jack Hinshelwood (knee) is on the verge of his own return, but Danny Welbeck (ankle), Mats Wieffer (leg), Evan Ferguson (ankle), James Milner (hamstring) and Ferdi Kadioglu (toe) will not be available.
The opening of the January transfer window also means that Diego Gomez's £11m move from Inter Miami has been made official, but the midfielder will not be considered for his first appearance this weekend.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Lamptey, Dunk, Van Hecke, Estupinan; Baleba, O'Riley; Adingra, Rutter, Mitoma; Pedro
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Rice, Merino; Martinelli, Jesus, Trossard
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-3 Arsenal
Brighton had both scored and conceded in six successive Premier League home games before their goalless affair with Brentford on December 27, and the goals ought to flow once again versus an Arsenal side who have struggled for clean sheets on the road of late.
However, Arteta's men are coping just fine on the offensive front without the influential Saka and have our backing to march to a second 3-1 win of the year, thus preventing Liverpool from steering further clear at the Premier League summit.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
