Brighton have been hit by another injury blow as they look to continue their impressive form against Premier League champions Arsenal.
Captain Lewis Dunk is reportedly suffering with a stiff neck and cannot feature at the Amex, on Saturday afternoon (September 19).
The 34-year-old scored a screamer in last weekend’s 5-0 victory at Coventry.
There are two changes to the team, which started that match, with Pascal Struijk replacing the skipper. It is the former Leeds United man’s first league start for Albion.
Brighton captain Lewis Dunk is reportedly suffering with a stiff neck and cannot feature at the Amex, against Arsenal, on Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)placeholder image
Brighton captain Lewis Dunk is reportedly suffering with a stiff neck and cannot feature at the Amex, against Arsenal, on Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Malick Yalcouye, who was also on the scoresheet at Coventry, is on the bench against Arsenal. He is replaced by Chema Andres, who comes into midfield for his first Premier League start.
Both Struijk and Chemes were part of the team, which helped Albion come from two down to beat Manchester United, 3-2, in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Brighton are fourth in the Premier League table and are the divisions top scorers with 13 goals from four matches.
Arsenal though will provide an extremely tough test, especially as Brighton are still nursing a lengthy injury list.
Stefanos Tzimas, Yankuba Minteh, Jack Hinshelwood, Kaoru Mitoma, Mats Wieffer, Michael Svoboda, Zadok Yohanna, Femi Azeez and Evan Ferguson remain unavailable.
Brighton starting XI: Verbruggen, Kadioglu, Struijk, Vuskovic, Boscagli, Ayari, Gross, Andres, Gomez, De Cuyper, Kostoulas
Subs: Steele, Hadjam, Rutter, David, Osman, Costinha, Svoboda, O'Reilly, Yalcouye