Arsenal look to continue their Premier League title challenge as they face Brighton & Hove Albion.
Arsenal could begin the game sat second if Manchester City win at lunchtime but victory would return them to top spot, although they could extend their lead to as much as five points if the Cityzens don’t win their game.
Brighton can climb to sixth with a win if Manchester United lose to Newcastle in Boxing Night Football.
Team News
Arsenal have no fresh injury concerns to report after their Carabao Cup Quarter-Final victory against Crystal Palace on penalties.
Max Dowman, Cristhian Mosquera (both ankle), Ben White (hamstring), Gabriel (adductor) and Kai Havertz (knee) remain sidelined.
Brighton will welcome Lewis Dunk and Diego Gomez back from suspension, which saw the pair miss their goalless draw at home to Sunderland.
Jan Paul van Hecke (illness), Mats Wieffer (concussion) and Danny Welbeck (back) face late fitness checks.
Carlos Baleba (international duty), Stefanos Tzimas (ACL), Solly March and Adam Webster (both knee) remain sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Arsenal host Brighton at Emirates Stadium on Saturday 27 December at 3pm GMT, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Arsenal have lost one of their last six league meetings against Brighton (W3, D2, L1).
- Brighton have lost one of their last four league visits to Arsenal (W2, D1, L1).
- Brighton’s Joao Pedro scored in both league appearances against Arsenal last season (D2), as both clashes ended in 1-1 draws.
- Leandro Trossard has been involved in seven league goals for Arsenal this season, having produced four goals and three assists in 13 appearances.
- Brighton are looking to avoid going three consecutive league games without a goal for the first time under Fabian Hurzeler.
Prediction
Having produced scrappy performances in their last few games, Arsenal really need to find their polished clinical quality if want to retain control of the title race – which could be in Man City’s hands by the time the Gunners even kick off, but they have to be sharper than they were against Palace in their end product.
Brighton meanwhile grinded out a goalless draw against Sunderland in a game which saw both teams lack a sharp clinical final touch to beat their oppositional goalkeepers, but the Seagulls will be perhaps relieved as they missed key players who will be back for this trip.
Those who however played in the goalless draw should be pleased at how they were able to still play on the front foot attacking wise, but this could be a game where they will probably need to sit in a bit and soak up Arsenal’s wide play then hit on the counter.
Although Arsenal are unbeaten on 27 December with four wins and a draw from five previous games on this date, I do think that Brighton will be able to grind out a point despite their December struggles of the last two seasons continuing.
Prediction: Arsenal 1-1 Brighton
Result: Arsenal 2-1 Brighton
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