Brighton confirm first three fixtures of Premier League restart
Brighton & Hove Albion have confirmed the opponents, dates and times of their first three Premier League fixtures for the 2019-20 restart.
Arsenal will visit an empty Amex Stadium on Saturday 20th June at 3pm. The match will be shown live on BT Sport, making it the first ever single Premier League fixture to be broadcast on a Saturday at 3pm.
Brighton had been due to take on the Gunners on Saturday 14th March, a date which feels like a lifetime ago now. That game was set to go ahead right up until the moment that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for coronavirus.
The Premier League subsequently took the decision to suspend that weekend’s programme in the wake of Arteta contracting Covid-19.
Had Arteta not tested positive, then 20 top flight fixtures would have taken place. Given the blame that has been laid at the doors of Liverpool’s Champions League match with Atletico Madrid and the Cheltenham Featival for spreading the illness around the United Kingdom, there is a strong argument to be had that Arteta’s diagnosis saved countless lives by wiping out further sporting fixtures across England.
Arsenal’s visit is one of the ‘easier’ games that Brighton will face in their run-in. The Albion are yet to lose at home to the Gunners since winning promotion to the top flight in 2017. Arsenal are also the only one of the big six who the Albion have taken points off away from home in the Premier League.
Chris Hughton delivered a 1-1 draw at the Emirates in May 2019 before Potter topped that with a memorable 2-1 victory in North London back in December.
If the Albion are to avoid relegation, then three points against the Gunners looks like a necessity. Which says everything about how tough the final nine fixtures are for Potter’s side.
Three days after that rearranged game with Arsenal and Brighton go to Leicester for their second game of the Premier League restart.
The Albion don’t have a particularly good record against Leicester, having picked up just one point from a possible 15 in the top flight so far. It is hard to see that changing with Brendan Rodgers’ side chasing a top three finish.
Kick off at the King Power is at 6pm, which unfortunately clashes with Home & Away on Channel 5. A difficult decision awaits as to whether watch the Albion fail to score against the Foxes or to check in with Alf, Leah and Marilyn in Summer Bay.
Manchester United will then come to the Amex on Tuesday 30th June with an 8.15pm kick off on Sky Sports. United have famously lost on both of their previous Premier League visits to Brighton, making this another fixture that Potter will be targeting points from.
United ran out 3-1 winners at Old Trafford when the sides last met in November. Potter took the suicidal decision of playing a high press, high defensive line against the pace of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Matrial at the Theatre of Dreams on that occasion.
If the Albion manager does that again, we might as well just give Ole Gunnar Solksjaer the three points now and save United the bother of coming all the way to Sussex. Hopefully, Potter has learned his lesson.
Should Brighton fail to win any of those three games, then their record will stretch to two victories in 22 games. Ouch. If the Albion are to avoid trips to Luton Town, Barnsley and Blackburn Rovers next season, then they have to start winning on June 20th.
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