Arsenal have comfortably won their first two matches of the new Premier League season and Mikel Arteta will be hoping that his boys can make it three out of three when they welcome Brighton and Hove Albion at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Brighton have also made a perfect start to their new campaign and last weekend, they picked up a superb 2-1 win over Manchester United. However, Arsenal are a much stronger side in comparison to Man United so the Seagulls will have their work cut out.
Mikel Arteta’s side are yet to concede a goal this season and last campaign they scored five goals against Brighton without conceding even a single one. The Gunners beat Aston Villa in matchweek two and based on their recent form, they are very much the favourites to win on Saturday.
Arsenal’s team news and injuries:
Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are unavailable due to injuries and Gabriel Jesus is also out with a groin injury. According to a report in The Athletic, Jesus’ groin issue is not serious and thanks to the international break, the forward is not going to miss a lot of games for Arsenal.
Arsenal have officially signed Mikel Merino and the midfielder will be in line to start at the weekend. However, we feel Thomas Partey will hold onto his starting place and Merino will probably come on as a second-half sub.
Against Aston Villa, Mikel Arteta used a three-man central defence with Jurrien Timber playing in defensive midfield. However, the manager will revert to a 4-2-3-1 formation meaning Timber will once again slot in at left-back.
Kai Havertz has been in top form this season and he’s already had two goal contributions in as many games. With Gabriel Jesus out injured, the Arsenal manager has very limited options for the centre-forward’s position.
Leandro Trossard put in a superb shift when he came off the bench against Villa but we think Arteta will rely on Gabriel Martinelli once again. Trossard will definitely be pushing for a start but the Arsenal manager will not want to unnecessarily reshuffle his front three.
Arsenal predicted line up vs Brighton:
Predicted Starting lineup(4-2-3-1): Raya; Timber, Gabriel, William Saliba, Ben White; Declan Rice, Odegaard, Thomas Partey/Merino; Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka.
