Arsenal at Brighton & Hove Preview: Heating Up

Two down, eight to go, and everything still left to play for. Love it or hate it, the Premier League run-in is as exciting as they come.

Arsenal have gotten off to a solid start since the end of the final international break. A draw at Manchester City on Sunday kept their place in the title race, and a win at the Emirates over Luton Town on Wednesday saw them take care of business with a heavily rotated side. Now the Gunners head to the southern coast in hopes of extending their unbeaten run to 10 matches and continuing their push to raise the PL trophy at season’s end.

Standing in their way are a Brighton & Hove Albion side that have proven tricky for the Gunners since their promotion to the Premier League in 2017. The Seagulls landed a knock out punch last May at the Emirates, all but ending the Gunner’s title chances with a victory a fatigued and beleaguered Arsenal. Once again, they find themselves with a chance to spoil the party for Mikel Arteta’s side, this time at home.

With Arsenal locked in a tense three-horse race for the PL title, and with every match gaining importance as the season nears its end, can they do what they couldn’t last year against Brighton late in the season?

Here are five talking points ahead of Saturday’s match:

Know the Enemy

Brighton’s campaign this season has been the dictionary definition of mid-table. Neither out-and-out awful nor truly excellent, the Seagulls, who currently find themselves in 9th place with 43 points, have steadily existed somewhere between the two; sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe…not.

Their home and away forms are effectively Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Away from home, Brighton have amassed 16 points from 16 played with a paltry 4-4-8 record with some true stinkers among the losses, including a 4-0 loss at Luton. It is their home record, though, that has kept them safe from being anywhere close to the drop zone. At the Amex, they have lost only once, with a 7-6-1 record, their lone loss coming all the way back in August. Since then, they have been an exceedingly tough nut to crack.

Brighton enter the match on the back of a tough 0-0 draw at Brentford and a late 2-1 loss to league leaders Liverpool since the end of the international break.

Back to Basics

Mikel Arteta made the prudent (and successful) decision to heavily rotate his side during Wednesday’s victory over Luton Town. Key players got rest, and a few tertiary players who will be counted on during the run-in got crucial minutes under the big lights. April is set to be a brutal crucible, and Wednesday was the last true chance for ironing out the kinks with the bench players.

The remaining weeks give the Gunners little opportunity to rotate quite as freely. After Brighton, a massive midweek Champions League match against Bayern Munich is quickly followed by a weekend tilt with an Aston Villa side in the hunt for a top 4 spot. On Saturday, Arteta will undoubtedly field a familiar starting XI and hope that their rhythm hasn’t skipped a beat amidst the break and Wednesday’s rotation. With so much at stake, there is no more room for tinkering, as Arteta will need to roll with what works until it doesn’t.

The Saka Factor

The most notable absence on Wednesday was Bukayo Saka, who was given a rare night off. The Arsenal star has been dealing with a nagging injury that forced him to leave the England camp early during the international break, and the lingering affects were readily apparent against Manchester City, where he looked off the pace and did little to influence the match. Despite training with Arsenal this week, Arteta made the call to shelve him against Luton, a decision that thankfully didn’t affect the Gunners’ ability to see out the match with ease.

Unfortunately, we don’t quite know the full scope of his injury. Between Arteta’s ever-evasive reports and Saka’s obstinate ability to play through the pain, the spectrum of possible severity is vast. Is the sky falling? Hard to say. The England star has hobbled through the majority of the season with an array of ailments, but none have been major enough to keep him off the pitch for a long period of time. Managing his minutes and keeping him from an extended stay in the physio room is a major priority. Can Arteta risk another match with him on the sideline recovering, or will he roll the dice on Saturday?

The Prodigal Son Returns

One favored son sits, another returns. The sight of Emile Smith Rowe on the pitch was one of the most enjoyable parts of Wednesday’s win. The Hale End graduate has found playing time hard to come by this season after an endless litany of injuries, which made his MOTM performance all the more gratifying. His rust from a lack of consistent run out was apparent in the match’s early stages, but he also showed glimpses of the talent that made him an integral part of the squad two seasons ago as the match wore on.

It was ESR’s pressing that forced a turnover that led directly to the first goal, and it was his cut back that was turned into the net by a Luton defender for the second. If it weren’t for a great save by the Luton keeper, he would have found the net himself. If Wednesday night is a sign of things to come, his return to form could be a huge boon for the Gunners over the remaining fixtures.

Eyes on Your Own Paper

With every match that passes, the points become more and more valuable, and the margin for error becomes slimmer and slimmer, especially with Manchester City and Liverpool continuing their winning ways this week. If Arsenal are feeling the pressure from the performances of the other two title contenders, though, they are maintaining one hell of a poker face.

Arsenal’s ability to put on blinders has been vital to their success this season. For all of the tightness of the title race, they have dealt with the pressure far better this season than last. Their maturity against City earned them a point, and their focus on Wednesday got them all three. Their skill and talent have been evident since last season’s ascendancy. Now they need to continue showing that they can keep their wits about them as the season begins to dwindle and the pressure continues to mount.

Arsenal have the best away record in the PL, but they have struggled at times to find wins against the league’s more resolute sides. For the Gunners to be the second side to defeat the Seagulls at the Amex this season, they will need to be at their best in the attack. Defensively, Arsenal have established their supremacy with two stingy displays after the break to maintain their league-best defensive form at the back. But to make sure they get the most out of their trip to the coast, their attack needs to rediscover the incisive level that saw them slice through the opposition before the break. Without it, it could be a long day to forget on England’s southern coast.

WHAT: Arsenal at Brighton & Hove Albion
WHEN: Saturday, April 6th, 12:30pm EST/9:30am PST/5:30pm GMT
WHERE: The American Express Stadium, Brighton & Hove, England
HOW TO WATCH: Broadcast live on The USA Network

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