On Christmas Day, the Gunners rallied from behind to defeat West Ham United 3-1, while the Seagulls defeated Southampton on the South Coast by the same scoreline. Both games were played in the Premier League.
Team News
Brighton
- The Brighton manager, who was left relatively pleased with his team’s performance against Southampton, vented his annoyance at the yellow card shown to Moises Caicedo, who is now suspended for this match after collecting five bookings throughout the course of the season.
- It is not expected that Argentina’s World Cup hero Alexis Mac Allister will return until the new year, and De Zerbi is not optimistic about Adam Webster’s chances of being available for Saturday. On the other hand, it is possible that former Arsenal player Danny Welbeck will recover from a muscular issue in time for a reunion with his former team. Meanwhile, Jakub Moder has been missing for a considerable amount of time.
- It is expected that Billy Gilmour will make his first start of the Premier League season in place of Caicedo, who is serving a suspension. However, Jeremy Sarmiento had a strong performance in the EFL Cup match against the Gunners and will be itching for another opportunity to show off his skills against the North London club.
Arsenal
- Gabriel Jesus (knee) and Reiss Nelson (thigh) are still sidelined with injuries and there is no timetable for their returns. On the other hand, Emile Smith Rowe, who had surgery on his groin in September, may finally make his long-awaited comeback.
- Takehiro Tomiyasu, who has a history of hamstring injuries, will also work hard to recover from his most recent strain in a timely manner. However, there may be a change in the full-back areas regardless, as Oleksandr Zinchenko is now healthy and ready to compete with Kieran Tierney for the left-back position.
- Martin Odegaard delivered a performance that earned him the man-of-the-match award against West Ham, and he is now aiming to score two or more goals in a Premier League away game for the third time this season. If he is successful, he will join an elite group of Arsenal players that includes Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp, Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie, and Alexis Sanchez, all of whom have done so for Arsenal in the past.
Possible Lineup
Brighton: Sanchez; Veltman, Dunk, Colwill, Estupinan; Gilmour, Gross; March, Lallana, Mitoma; Trossard
Arsenal: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Xhaka, Partey; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Nketiah
Prediction Analysis
Caicedo and Mac Allister are both capable of game-changing moments for the hosts, and the reintroduction of Zinchenko would undermine the Seagulls’ engine room talents even further. The absence of both of these midfielders should have a significant negative impact on Brighton in this match.
De Zerbi’s team are still no pushovers on their home field and may feel confident of hurting the Arsenal backline. However, Arteta’s ruthless side should be able to exploit a weak Brighton basis and earn their 14th win of the Premier League season.
Our prediction is Brighton 1-2 Arsenal