Match Preview: Arsenal v Brighton

So far in Brighton’s three-season Premier League adventure, we’ve played 16 games away at the Big Six. 48 points have been up for grab. The Albion’s points haul from those fixtures? One.

Even this season, with the monopoly at the top of the table under threat and a manager in Graham Potter who wants to do more than park the bus against the big names, we’ve lost three times out of three on the road to the country’s biggest clubs.

That solitary point came away at Arsenal back in May, a result which in its own little way sped up the departure of Unai Emery from the Emirates. The Gunners’ failure to win on the penultimate day of the season ended their hopes of a top four finish, a fact that Yves Bissouma very much enjoyed.

Had Arsenal been playing Champions League football in 2019-20, then Emery might have had more time in the job. Instead, he’s now out of work and we’re heading to North London to face a side with former underwear model Freddie Ljunberg in caretaker charge.

Sorting out the shambles at the Emirates will be a tough task for any manager, let alone a rookie interim boss. This makes the Albion’s visit a golden opportunity for a first win away at one of the big six at the 17th attempt.

A brief history of Arsenal
MK Dons may be hated by the football family for the way that they came into being, but it was actually Arsenal who were England’s first ever franchise football club. The Gunners began life as Royal Arsenal, playing south of the Thames in Plumstead. It was only in 1913 that they moved to North London and Highbury, which would go onto be their home for the next 93 years.

Once settled in their new location, the Gunners went onto become one of the most successful football clubs in the land. Their haul of trophies reads 13 English titles, 13 FA Cups, two League Cups, 15 Community Shields and one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.

They moved from Highbury to their current home of the Emirates Stadium in 2006, since when the club’s priorities have changed somewhat. Rather than win Premier League titles, these days Gunners fans base success on whether they finish higher in the table than Tottenham Hotspur. Sadly for them, they’ve not even managed that over the past few seasons.

Arsenal this season
Well, it’s not been great. Arsenal’s record so far reads played 14, won four, drawn seven, lost three, which leaves them eighth in the table and below powerhouses like Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United. Emery paid for that with his job last week, although from the outside looking in the Arsenal players are partly responsible for the way in which they seem to have downed tools in recent weeks.

The big question then is who takes over at the Emirates? Traditionally, it would be a job that most managers in football would want, but years of under-investment and a squad that has all the fight of a newborn kitten mean that Arsenal’s hopes of attracting a genuine top-class manager look slim.

Brendan Rodgers and Nuno have both been touted, but why would they want to leave the sanctuary of Leicester City and Wolves respectively, where they are well-backed and with better players than Arsenal have at their disposal currently?

Mauricio Pochetino would be a hilarious appointment, if only for the meltdown that would follow from Spurs fans. Other than that, there aren’t many standout managers available – especially as Arsenal really need to move quickly as we enter a critical stage of the season.

Anyone know what Arsene Wenger is up to these days?

Head-to-head
Guess what – it doesn’t make great reading. The Albion and Arsenal have met on 31 previous occasions with Brighton winning just four times. Only five of those have been draws, which means that the wannabe Rachel Rileys among you will have worked out we’ve suffered defeat 22 times to the Gunners.

And just to fill you with even more confidence, we’ve never won an away game against Arsenal. No victories at Highbury, none at the Emirates and none at White Hart Lane, where we played the Gunners six times during World War II as Highbury was requisitioned as a first aid post and air-raid patrol centre.

That means that we’ve actually played Arsenal away at White Hart Lane more than any other venue. Some good pub quiz trivia knowledge for you right there.

Brighton’s head-to-head record with Arsenal

Last six meetings
• Arsenal 1-1 Brighton (Premier League, 05/05/19)
• Brighton 1-1 Arsenal (Premier League, 26/12/18)
• Brighton 2-1 Arsenal (Premier League, 04/03/18)
• Arsenal 2-0 Brighton (Premier League, 01/10/17)
• Brighton 2-3 Arsenal (FA Cup Fourth Round, 25/01/15)
• Brighton 2-3 Arsenal (FA Cup Fourth Round, 26/01/13)

While our overall record against Arsenal may look about as good as Katie Price’s bank balance, our recent form has actually been quite good. We’re unbeaten in the past three having drawn two and won one while we’ve also scored against the Gunners in eight of our last 10 meetings going all the way back to 1982.

Team news
Who knows what Potter is going to do next? On Saturday at Anfield, we had five central midfielders crammed into the starting line up, a 6’7 centre back playing at left back against Mo Salah and a 19-year-old striker leading the line by himself.

You suspect that the Albion boss will have to shuffle the pack given the hectic upcoming fixture list, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see that happen via a more attacking line up. Neal Maupay coming back in to join Aaron Connolly in attack is one of the more obvious changes, but other than that there seems to be very little point in trying to predict. It genuinely wouldn’t be a surprise to see Maty Ryan up front and David Button in goal.

Arsenal’s key players
Traditionally, this would be a very long list given the quality that Arsenal teams of the past used to possess. Not any more though. The Gunners have only two players who you think could cause us real damage but that just so happens to be there front two, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. If the Albion’s back line can keep them quiet, then we’ll have a real chance of taking something.

A good WeAreBrighton.com memory of Arsenal away
Not a Brighton-related memory, but we managed to wangle some tickets for Arsenal’s final home game of the 2015-16 season against Aston Villa at the Emirates in their equivalent of 1901. Joy was unconfined at half time when we wandered into the lounge area to see two huge tables, both of which were packed with pints of beer.

Turns out that hospitality at Arsenal extends to taking as many of these complimentary beers that you can get down your neck during half time as is humanly possibly. £4.80 pints being given away for nothing? It was the sort of scene that would have Profit Paul Barber vomiting on the spot in disgust.

A bad WeAreBrighton.com memory of Arsenal away?
Izzy Brown. False Nine. Nothing more to say.

Our favourite player to play for Brighton and Arsenal
Liam Brady’s closeness to both clubs often led to many people hailing a “special relationship” between the Arsenal and Albion which could help us pick up a number of talented young Gunners on loan. In reality though, the majority of them were shit. Valur Gislason, Graham Barrett, Joe O’Ceaurill and Gavin Hoyte all spring to mind, while the less said about Chuba Akpom the better.

Three could be classed as successes – Steve Sidwell had a goal-filled loan spell as an 18-year-old before Reading gazumped us to his permanent signature as they so often did in the early 2000’s. Paul Dickov’s talents were obvious when he came to the Goldstone in the 1993-94 season but our favourite was the less-remembered of that trio, Mark Flatts. Can’t remember if he was any good or not, but his “Flatts the way aha aha I like it aha aha” song remains one of the most underrated Albion player tunes of the past 30 years.

What we like about Arsenal
If you are a fan of prisons, then you can’t fail to be impressed by the Islington area. HMP Pentonville has held George Best, Boy George and George Michael while Oscar Wilde was also imprisoned there for the crime of being gay. Manchester City’s oil-rich owners like this.

On the female side, HMP Holloway was home to many suffragettes who were jailed for fighting for women’s rights such as Emmeline Pankhurst, Emily Davison and Constance Markievicz. Manchester City’s oil-rich owners also like this.

Prediction
Sod it, we’re going to go out on a limb here – 2-1 to the Albion.

If you’re looking for a way to watch Arsenal v Brighton, then the game will be shown live on Amazon Prime, which is currently offering a 30 day free trial. That period also covers the Albion’s Boxing Day trip to Spurs, meaning that you can catch both games for nothing – sign up here.