Match Preview: Arsenal v Brighton
By the time you’re reading this, the Albion’s Premier League fate might have already been sealed.
A win for Crystal Palace against Cardiff City yesterday would have confirmed the Bluebirds relegation and guaranteed the Albion’s place in the top flight for next season – in which case, party time.
A draw would mean that Neil Warnock’s side would need to go to Manchester United next week and win by around 14 clear goals whilst a Cardiff victory means that we could really do with something from our trip to the Emirates with the gap between Brighton and the relegation zone down to just one point.
And let’s be honest, the chances of a positive result against Arsenal are about as likely as Shergar turning up and winning next month’s Epsom Derby.
This will the Albion’s 12th away game against one of the big six since winning promotion. So far, our record reads played 11, lost 11, scored 2. Doesn’t exactly inspire you with confidence, does it?
Let’s hope Palace did the business yesterday. With Manchester City to come at the Amex and Cardiff going to an out-of-sorts Manchester United on the final day, it could be a nerve wracking last weekend of the season otherwise.
Who are Arsenal?
For all the abuse directed in the way of Milton Keynes Dons, it’s an overlooked fact that Arsenal were the original franchise football club. They started life south of the Thames in Woolwich, where they played for the first 17 years of their existence between 1886 and 1913 until they moved to Highbury. With a new stadium and bigger crowds following their relocation, the Gunners were able to attract the best manager of the era in Herbert Chapman to move south from Huddersfield Town and he subsequently set them on their way to becoming one of the most successful clubs in English football. Their current haul of trophies stands at 13 titles, a record 13 FA Cups, two League Cups and one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup although they haven’t won the Premier League since before Facebook was invented.
What are they like now?
After many years of stagnation and supporter unrest under Arsene Wenger, the Gunners finally moved their most successful ever manager on last summer and replaced him with Unai Emery. From the outside, Emery looks to have done an impressive job of taking what is essentially Wenger’s team – and a limited one at that compared to their top six rivals – and having them on the cusp of the top four as well as in a very strong position in the Europa League semi finals. This being Arsenal though, with their section of supporters who think they have a divine right to success, he’s remarkably been criticised in some quarters for the work he’s done. His cause isn’t helped by the fact that Tottenham Hotspur are having an excellent season and have just moved into the best stadium in the country; many Arsenal fans would prefer to see their team finish above Spurs rather than win a trophy, which could leave Emery’s achievements if they do win the Europa League in the shadows should Tottenham finish in the top four. It’s quite sad, really.
Which players should we be worried about?
Much like Emery’s achievements this season, the work of Arsenal’s front two seems to have gone under the radar as well. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could yet win the Golden Boot as he sits on 19 goals, just two behind Mo ‘Tom Daley’ Salah whilst Alexandre Lacazette is a little further back on 13. Aaron Ramsey will become one of the best paid players in the world when he leaves the Emirates on a free this summer for Juventus and we haven’t even begun to talk about Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Özil, who both have the ability to create something out of nothing. That’s quite the array of attacking riches.
What’s the Albion’s record like against Arsenal?
Where to start? The Albion have only ever beaten Arsenal on four occasions out of 30. We’ve never tasted victory against the Gunners away from home, although we are unbeaten in the last two meetings having drawn 1-1 at the Amex on Boxing Day and won 2-1 last March in what proved to be one of the final nails in Wenger’s coffin.
What’s the best WeAreBrighton.com memory of Arsenal away?
Not a game involving Brighton, but when Arsenal took on Aston Villa in the final day of the 2015-16 season, we managed to wangle some corporate tickets for the Emirates’ version of 1901. You can only imagine our joy when at half time we returned to the lounge to find tables topped with hundreds of pints worth of beer which you could help yourself to for free. If the Albion implemented this sort of thing at the Amex, we’d sell a kidney to afford a 1901 seat. Or plaster this website with Amazon links (which we demand you must use to do your Christmas shopping) and Google Ads whilst banning anyone who has the nerve to use an ad blocker, like our friend over at North Stand Chat does.
What’s the worst WeAreBrighton.com memory of Arsenal away?
Last year’s trip to the Emirates was up there with the worst days out of the season – and yes, we went to Burnley. Despite being in the capital city of a country where 24 hour drinking rules exist, we couldn’t find one decent pub to have a few beers in before the Sunday lunchtime kick off and the stadium was genuinely the quietest ground we’ve ever been to. Even Hartlepool on a Tuesday night with 2,000 people had more atmosphere. The football wasn’t great either, injuries and suspensions ruling out Glenn Murray, Tomer Hemed and Sam Baldock which meant Chris Hughton playing a 4-6-0 formation. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t manage a meaningful shot on goal all afternoon.
Who’s played for both sides?
When former Albion boss Liam Brady took up a role in Arsenal’s academy, a lot was made about how we could now form a ‘special relationship’ with the Gunners and loan some of their best young players. In reality, what that has given us down the years is Valur Gislason, Joe O’Cearuill, Gavin Hoyte and Chuba Akpom – a who’s who of crap, crap and more crap. Typically, the one decent player we were offered we turned down; Martin Hinshelwood preferring to sign Guy Butters from Gillingham than take a young Kolo Toure on loan from Highbury in 2002.
Other than football, what is Arsenal famous for?
Islington is home to the Finsbury Park Mosque where Abu Hamza did a fair bit of his preaching and an equally insane man from Wales tried to mow a load of people down in a white van a few years ago. There is the Hen and Chickens Theatre which sadly doesn’t seem to specialise in shows involving just chickens and hens. It’s also home to two famous prisons, HM Prison Pentonville whose famous former inmates include Oscar Wilde, George Best, Boy George and George Michael and HM Prison Holloway, which in the early 20th century was used to hold many suffragettes.
Where’s the betting value for Arsenal v Brighton?
It’s the same bet we advise whenever the Albion are away to one of the big six, which is pile into as many markets involving Brighton not scoring as possible. That’s Arsenal clean sheet at 23/20, Brighton to score no at 117/100 and both teams to score no at evens.
Prediction
A backs-to-the-walls display but one which ultimately ends in the same story of defeat without a goal being scored. 2-0 to the Gunners.
