Arsenal Vs Brighton: Points in the bag a necessity

Arsenal play Burnley, Brighton, Liverpool and Fulham across the Christmas period. Three wins would be a good return. Consequently, points in the bag are a necessity when they travel to the south coast to play Brighton on Boxing Day.

The festive period is unique to English football. There is nothing like it in the rest of the world. The ferocity of the matches, the frequency of the game, the physical and mental demands on the players and the coaches. Speak to any player or manager who has not grown up in English football and they will tell you how difficult it was adapting to the Christmas fixtures.

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The relentless nature of the games at this time of year make it extremely challenging for managers to navigate their teams through this utterly special and particular period of the season. But the regularity of the matches also offers great opportunity.

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In the space of 11 days, Arsenal play four games: Burnley at home, which they won 3-1; on the road at Brighton and Hove Albion on Boxing Day; a trip to Anfield and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool just three days later; a home match against Fulham on New Year’s Day to close out the run. That is more than 10% of the season played in less than two weeks. The chance to hit form and pick up points is plentiful.

And of those four matches, only one is a troubling prospect, a somewhat horrifying match at Liverpool, the unbeaten Liverpool who sit at the top of the table at Christmas — incidentally, in the past ten years, eight of the ten teams that are first at Christmas have won the league. The only two were Liverpool in 2008/09 and Liverpool again in 2013/14. Liverpool might be the best team in the country, and they are formidable at home, winning seven of their eight matches at Anfield, drawing the other.

But if Arsenal were able to win their three other matches, even a loss to Liverpool would not be catastrophic to their top-four chances. Three wins from four games, amassing nine points, is not a haul to be scoffed at from the Christmas period. And so, that makes the Boxing Day match against Brighton absolutely critical.

With Liverpool looming, having six points in the bag from the festive fixtures would be invaluable, and not just for the confidence of the players. With Chelsea surprisingly losing to Leicester City at the weekend, Arsenal sit level on points with the Blues, inches outside of the top four. Unai Emery’s goal at the end of the year is to finish inside the top four. Nine points at Christmas would be a huge step to achieving that goal.

Emery may be tempted to rest players on Wednesday, such are the demands of the current period and the difficulty of the Liverpool match. But I would actually like to see him play his strongest possible team and ensure the victory. You get the same number of points for beating Brighton as you do Liverpool. It could be argued, therefore, that the Brighton game is more important than the Liverpool match. It will not be the big games that get Arsenal into the top four. It will be their relentless winning against the bottom teams.

Getting points in the bag at this time of year is a necessity. Arsenal have the chance to earn six points from six at Christmas with a win on Boxing Day. No matter what the future may hold, that is worth prioritising.