Brighton vs Arsenal Preview: How to Watch, Predicted Lineups, Score Prediction & Team News

Arsenal take on Brighton in the Premier League on Tuesday. Here’s the match preview.

Arsenal ended a torrid run of seven Premier League matches without victory on Saturday with a thoroughly deserved 3-1 win over Chelsea.

With three points becoming increasingly elusive as the weeks went by, Boxing Day was the ideal remedy to the extended agony all associated with Arsenal had been left to endure.

A fabulous win to lift the mood, it will count for nothing if Mikel Arteta‘s side fall foul to a team who’ve become a bogey side for the Gunners in recent seasons. Come up short at the AMEX Stadium and putting the Blues to the sword will have become another short-lived, and ultimately forgotten moment to savour.

Graham Potter’s side were without a win in their last five top-flight matches prior to facing West Ham on Sunday, a run that under normal circumstances would be cause for optimism. Where previously Arsenal had made a habit of seeing off the weaker sides in the division, their current plight means no team, under whatever spell of form, are an easy target.

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Take away the Chelsea win and Arteta’s side are still majorly weak. Those three points lift the mood considerably, yet can’t be hailed unless they’re used as a springboard for improvement rather than a stop-gap in mediocrity.

In the six Premier League meetings since the Seagulls achieved promotion, Arsenal have accumulated a miserly five points, winning only on the first encounter between the two and going winless in the previous five.

Arteta won’t let his side get carried away after Boxing Day, neither should supporters. Falter here and we’ll be right back where we were. It’s all about momentum.

Here is your preview for Tuesday’s Premier League clash.

How to Watch on TV

When Is Kick Off? Tuesday 29th December
What Time Is Kick Off? 18:00 (BST)
Where Is it Played? AMEX Stadium
TV Channel/Live Stream? Amazon Prime (UK) fuboTV (USA)
Referee? Craig Pawson

Team News

At this stage of the Premier League season, injuries will take their toll. Already Arsenal have been unfortunate in a number of departments, losing important players in key areas, although the absence of a trio for the Chelsea win was due to sources beyond their control.

Willian and David Luiz both sat out due to illness, with the pair suffering from COVID-19 symptoms and being exempt from the squad as a precaution. They’ve tested negative, but the proper protocols were made to ensure they were safe. Both should be available for Tuesday.

In central defence, Gabriel Magalhaes was forced to sit out and will continue to do so for the next few games after coming into contract with someone who had tested positive for the coronavirus. He has not contracted the virus, but must now self-isolate.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is fit and able after making the substitutes bench on Boxing Day. Arteta included him as a Plan B option, one he would have been pleased not to call upon, thus he could start on the south coast.

Thomas Partey edges nearer, getting closer to returning to full first team training. It’s touch and go but he likely won’t be available for the Brighton clash.

In order to keep legs fresh, Arteta could ring some changes as there will be another short turnover before Arsenal play again, making the trip north to face West Brom on January 2.

As for Potter’s side, Florin Andone and Jose Izquierdo are long-term injury absentees, although entertaining full-back Tariq Lamptey is expected to return from a hamstring injury after sitting out the West Ham clash.

Predicted Lineups

Brighton: Sanchez; White, Dunk, Webster; Lamptey, Bissouma, Lallana, March; Trossard, Connolly, Maupay

Arsenal: Leno; Bellerin, Holding, Mari, Tierney; Xhaka, Elneny, Smith Rowe; Saka, Aubameyang, Willian

Brighton vs Arsenal Score Prediction

While the players showed their character against Chelsea, making the short journey south to face Brighton will be a greater test of their mental resilience than facing the Blues. Without doubt.

Being the underdogs favours this Arsenal side, so facing a Seagulls team who’re on a poor run and have not tasted defeat against the visitors in any of the last five meetings will separate the men from the boys, as they say.

A Neal Maupay-shaped demon could rear its ugly head and inflict further pain on this team, so ensuring the mentality is correct to face the Seagulls is perhaps more important than any tactical nuance or choice of personnel.

Of course, certain players are more likely to have the correct attitude than others, so who Arteta opts for will make for engrossing viewing. How many do you change after such a morale-boosting win?

Fitness and rotation must come into play, and the withdrawals of Martinelli and Smith Rowe could be as much about avoiding injury as they were preservation for Tuesday.

The match against Brighton will enlighten supporters to the trajectory of this team. Either the Chelsea win was the turning point in the season to kick-start a group of previously beleaguered players, or it was a blip in the timeline going against usual deficiencies we’ve become accustomed to. All hope it’s the former.

However, this fixture has not been kind to Arsenal as Brighton know precisely where to hurt the Gunners, which they may do again.

Score Prediction: Brighton 1-1 Arsenal