Brighton v Arsenal LIVE: Gunners facing defensive absentees for trip to high-flying Seagulls in Premier League
Brighton host Arsenal in a clash between the Premier League leaders and Fabian Hurzeler’s high-flying side, with the Gunners looking to maintain their perfect start to the season.
The defending champions have recorded seven wins from seven games in all competitions so far this season, extending that record with a 2-0 win at Sunderland last weekend that featured plenty of drama as Mikel Arteta raged over the Black Cats being awarded a penalty - which David Raya went on to save.
Brighton meanwhile are fresh from a 5-0 drubbing of Coventry City in the top flight, with the highlight a long-range Lewis Dunk wonder-goal, and a 3-2 comeback win over Manchester United in an entertaining Carabao Cup clash on Wednesday night - inflicting a first home defeat from 2-0 up on United in 50 years.
This fixture sparked a war of words last season as Hurzeler criticised Arsenal for time-wasting at set-pieces, but the pair said prior to this match that they had smoothed over their differences and Arteta looked forward to “a beautiful game”.
Follow latest updates from the Amex Stadium, below:
Brighton v Arsenal LIVE
Brighton take on Arsenal in Premier League clash | Kick off at 3pm
Gunners bidding for eighth win from eight in supreme start to season
Mikel Arteta and Fabian Hurzeler bury the hatchet after war of words last season
Team news: Arsenal doubts over Timber, Mosquera, White and Hincapie
What is the Arsenal team news?
Uncertainty remains over Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, Jurrien Timber and Piero Hincapie. Thomas Tuchel hinted that White would have been in his England squad had it not been for injury, which means Mikel Arteta might need to get creative at right back if Timber and Mosquera are unavailable. Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Riccardo Calafiori and Christos Tzolis should return to the line-up after Arteta rotated in midweek.
Possible line-up: Raya; Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Guimaraes, Rice; Saka, Odegaard, Tzolis; Havertz
What is the Brighton team news?
Fresh from their brilliant Carabao Cup comeback against Manchester United in midweek, Brighton are expected to rotate back to their Premier League line-up this afternoon. That means Bart Verbruggen, Ferdi Kadioglu, Lewis Dunk, Yasin Ayari, Diego Gomez and Maxim De Cuyper should return form the start. Georginio Rutter is back from injury but teenage Charalampos Kostoulas could keep his place up front.
Possible line-up: Verbruggen; Kadioglu, Dunk, Vuskovic, Boscagli; Gross, Ayari; Gomez, Yalcouye, De Cuyper; Kostoulas
Good afternoon and welcome
Good afternoon. What a clash we have to look forward to on the south coast, quite an unexpected one too! If the Premier League had known that Brighton were going to start the season in such good form, then I’m not sure this game against the champions would have ended up scheduled for 3pm on a Saturday.
