Premier League: Arsenal Aim to Gun Down the High-Flying Seagulls

Arsenal vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Arsenal and Brighton have started their 2024-25 campaigns with a bang, as both won their first two Premier League games thus far. However, only one of them can stay unblemished on Saturday at the AMEX Stadium.

Mikel Arteta’s men opened their season with consecutive 2-0 victories against Wolves and Aston Villa, while Fabian Hurzeler is off to a flying start with Brighton, beating Everton 3-0, Manchester United 2-1, and Crawley Town 4-0 in the second round of the EFL Cup.

The Gunners are favoured by the pre-game SBOTOP betting odds to win because of their title-contending status, but the Seagulls are enjoying their new manager bounce with Hurzeler, and it feels like it won’t end anytime soon.

Either way, fans who will be watching this game live in East Sussex can expect numerous Premier League 2024 highlights from this scintillating matchup.

 

Talking Points

Will Merino make his Arsenal debut?

After coming up short in the Premier League title race in the past few years, Arsenal are determined to avoid the same fate this time, so they’ve been busy in the summer transfer window.

Besides getting rid of deadwood, such as Emile Smith Rowe, Aaron Ramsdale, and Eddie Nketiah, the Gunners managed to sign David Raya, Riccardo Calafiori, and Mikel Merino to permanent deals, with the latter being their newest acquisition.

Mikel Arteta has reportedly tracked Merino for some time because Arsenal are in need of another holding midfielder besides Declan Rice. While Arsenal already have Thomas Partey and Jorginho, they simply could not pass up the opportunity to acquire someone of Merino’s ilk.

The former Real Sociedad star will likely come off the bench against Brighton to ease his transition.

In other team news, Arsenal will likely continue to be without Gabriel Jesus, Kieran Tierney, and Takehiro Tomiyasu because they’re all injured.

Otherwise, Arteta will maintain essentially the same starting XI against Aston Villa, with Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, and William Saliba leading the way for the Gunners.

 

Welbeck continues to shine for Brighton

Brighton are flying high under Fabian Hurzeler because of their relentless attack. In their first three games across all competitions this season, the Seagulls have recorded nine goals while only conceding once.

A familiar face is leading the way for Brighton, as Danny Welbeck is currently joint-second in the early Golden Boot race with two goals. The 33-year-old striker found the back of the net against Everton and Manchester United, and he now has 100 career Premier League goals.

On the other hand, Kaoru Mitoma, Simon Adingra, Joao Pedro, Adam Webster, and Mark O’Mahony have done their bit for the club too with goals of their own this past week.

Welbeck was given the day off against Crawley Town in their EFL Cup matchup yesterday, so he should have fresh legs in the Arsenal game. Meanwhile, full-back Pervis Estupinan will hope to feature after his return from injury after appearing off the bench.

Saturday could also mark the much-awaited debut of their summer signing Ferdi Kadioglu from Fenerbahce.

 

History

Arsenal have won three of their last four Premier League fixtures against Brighton (L1), which is as many as they had in their first 10 against them (D3, L4).

However, Brighton have won three of their last seven Premier League games against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium (D1, L3), with their last one being a 3-0 result in May 2023.

If Arsenal win again this weekend, it’ll mark the second time that they’ve won their first three league matches to open the season under Mikel Arteta (also in 2022-23), which is as many times as they did under Arsene Wenger in 2003-04 and 2004-05.

Meanwhile, Brighton have never won their opening three league matches in a season since 2011-12 in the Championship.

 

Betting Tip

The Premier League 2024 odds are overwhelmingly in favour of Arsenal, especially since they’ll be playing at home this weekend. The Gunners are 1.33 favourites, whereas the Seagulls are 6.80 underdogs, and a draw is at 4.90 in the 1X2 market.

This might be a trickier match than expected for Arsenal, but they have the quality to see this one through and claim all three points. Fatigue may also play a role since Brighton will be playing their second match of the week.

Furthermore, fans can expect goals from this fixture, given the collective firepower from Arsenal and Brighton, making alternatives like Over 2.75 at 1.62 and Total Goal 2-3 at 2.06 something to think about.

   

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