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It has been an impressive start for both of these sides with them both beginning with back-to-back victories at the start of this campaign; Arsenal in a more controlled manner but Brighton and Hove Albion in an entertaining and remarkable fashion.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 31st August, 2024 - UK – 12:30pm / US ET – 7:30am / US PT – 4:30am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – USA Network
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – TNT Sports app / US – Universo, Fubo, Sling Blue & DirecTV Stream
ARSENAL PREVIEW: CONTROLLING AS MUCH AS THEY CAN
At the time of writing, Arsenal’s incoming transfer business has been limited to David Raya completing a permanent move, Tommy Setford, Riccardo Calafiori but then this week the arrival of Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad. The Gunners may seek reinforcements before the deadline but they have started the campaign very impressively.
On the opening day of the season, Arsenal hosted what did appear to be a stubborn Wolverhampton Wanderers side and dispatched of them by two goals to nil before impressively winning by the same scoreline at Villa Park last season, against a side that managed to do the double over them last year and deny them the Premier League title.
BRIGHTON PREVIEW: SMART SEAGULLS
31-year-old Fabian Hurzeler is the youngest permanent manager in Premier League history and he has got off to a magnificent start, aided by a board that has decided to spend over £200 million on players this summer to help the former St Pauli boss propel the Seagulls back into UEFA competition.
Brighton began the season away at Goodison Park and thrashed Everton by three goals to nil before a dramatic 2-1 defeat of Manchester United last weekend at the AMEX Stadium in which Joshua Zirkzee had a goal ruled out late on before Joao Pedro’s 95th minute winner. Since then they have also enjoyed a 4-0 win over Crawley Town in the EFL Cup.
ARSENAL TEAM NEWS: MIKEL MERINO BLOW
Extremely frustratingly for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta, new signing Mikel Merino is set for a spell on the sidelines immediately after joining the club due to suffering a shoulder injury in training.
Gabriel Jesus is also expected to be sidelined this weekend but isn't expected to be unavailable for too long, whilst Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney remain unavailable.
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): David Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli
UNAVAILABLE: Tomiyasu (Injured), Tierney (Injured), Mikel Merino (Injured), Gabriel Jesus (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
BRIGHTON TEAM NEWS: THE O'RILEY FRUSTRATION
Just eight minutes into his Brighton and Hove Albion debut, new summer signing Matt O'Riley was on the receiving end of a terrible tackle from Crawley Town's Jay Williams in the second round of the EFL Cup in midweek and the former Celtic man requires surgery.
Both Bart Verbruggen and Pervis Estupinan returned from respective injuries in that game with the former more likely to come into the eleven. Fabian Hurzeler has said he will have a clear number one, unlike Roberto De Zerbi, and he is more likely to get that role than Jason Steele.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Pervis Estupinan; Milner, Hinshelwood; Minteh, Joao Pedro, Mitoma; Welbeck
UNAVAILABLE: O'Riley (Injured), March (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Wieffer (Injured), Gruda (Injured)
ARSENAL VS BRIGHTON PREDICTION
This is expected to be quite a fun and entertaining affair – despite the best wishes and intentions of Mikel Arteta. The former Arsenal captain has designed his team to try and control pretty much all aspects of football matches and so a fun game goes against that because it suggests an element of unpredictability and chaos. Brighton, though, with the amount of directness they have in attack, can provide chaos to even the most controlled of circumstances so, as initially stated, expect something fun for the neutral.
ARSENAL VS BRIGHTON TIP: OVER 2.5 GOALS