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Two teams fresh from winning their groups in UEFA competition meet on Sunday when Arsenal host Brighton looking to go top of the Premier League.
The Gunners rested key personnel for their 1-1 draw with PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday, having already secured their last-16 place in the Champions League before the final group stage matchday.
Roberto De Zerbi’s Seagulls had a more draining Europa League encounter with Marseille but Joao Pedro’s late strike ensured the south coast side will avoid the knockout round play-off when the competition resumes in 2024.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Sunday’s game.
Arsenal vs Brighton H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
Country
TV channel/live stream
United Kingdom
Not televised, BBC Radio 5 Live
United States
Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, SiriusXM FC, Telemundo, nbcsports.com, USA Network, NBC Sports App
Canada
fuboTV Canada
Mikel Arteta could deploy a similar starting XI to the one that narrowly came up short at Aston Villa last weekend. That would mean recalls for Bukayo Saka, David Raya, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus among others after they were either used as second-half substitutes or rested completely.
Gabriel Martinelli missed the trip to Eindhoven with illness, while Mohamed Elneny had to be substituted just after the hour mark after tweaking his hamstring.
Thomas Partey, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Fabio Vieira and Jurrien Timber remain out of contention.
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Brighton (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Brighton have fewer days than Arsenal to recover from their European exploits and haven’t been helped by a significant injury list in recent months.
Pervis Estupinan, Solly March, Ansu Fati, Tariq Lamptey, Julio Enciso and Danny Welbeck remain out of action, leaving manager Roberto De Zerbi scrambling to assemble strong starting XIs during a busy period of fixtures.
Evan Ferguson may come in for Joao Pedro up front after the Brazilian’s heroics on Thursday, with Pascal Gross deployed in a more attacking role.
Brighton predicted lineup vs Arsenal (4-3-3): Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Igor; Gilmour, Baleba; Adingra, Gross, Mitoma; Ferguson.
Arsenal will be boosted by their greater period of rest, with manager Arteta able to give a number of key players time off. However, he will remain wary of the threat Sunday’s visitors pose, given Brighton have bested the Gunners regularly in their recent meetings.
The Seagulls capitalised on Arsenal’s tired form at the end of last season to run out 3-0 winners at the Emirates in May, but their own fatigue and injury issues may hinder them against what will be a refreshed home side.
Brighton are yet to keep a Premier League clean sheet this season and that trend won’t end here, with Arsenal favourites to claim all three points.
Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Brighton
READ 90MIN’S OTHER PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEWS FOR GAMEWEEK 17
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