Arsenal are back in action tomorrow night, looking to protect, and perhaps even stretch, their five-point lead at the top of the table when they head to the AMEX to face Brighton.
Fabian Hurzeler’s side come into the game in better shape than they were a few weeks ago. A run of six Premier League matches without a win had dragged them towards trouble, but back-to-back victories over Brentford and Nottingham Forest have steadied things and lifted them back into the relative comfort of mid-table.
Brighton have rarely been straightforward opponents for Arsenal since their promotion in 2017. In 17 league meetings, the Seagulls have won five and drawn five, more than enough to leave a mark. Still, the recent pattern tells a slightly different story. Mikel Arteta’s team are unbeaten in the last six between the sides, and will travel south confident they can keep that run going.
After going off in the second half of Sunday’s 2-1 win over Chelsea, it sounds like Declan Rice is fit.
“I hope so, he was much better today,” said the manager when quizzed on the England international’s availability.
“Obviously, we haven’t really trained because we’ve only had two days to prepare. So, hopefully, he’s going to be better tomorrow.”
The boss also allayed any fears around David Raya, who last week “had some niggles” and required treatment in the second half at the weekend.
It’s not all good news, Arteta revealed Ben White remains sidelined while there are doubts over Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz.
The former sat out the visit of the Blues, having made a brief cameo at Sp*rs the week before, while the latter came on in the closing stages to help see out the win, but continues to have his fitness managed after a recent hamstring issue.
“Kai, he’s done a part of the session, so we’ll have to wait and see whether he’s available and in which condition.
“Martin is the other one, we will see. We have to wait and see how comfortable he is to do certain actions.”
As for the threat posed by Brighton, Arteta said: “A very, very good side. The way they are coached, and they have a sequence of years as well with a very similar style, and players that fit really, really well what they want to do.
“They really believe in what they do. So, yeah, always a very tough opponent.”