Brighton v Arsenal Match Result
Arsenal are warm favourites to land a victory on the south coast, with the Gunners bidding to cast off their bridesmaid’s tag under Mikel Arteta. They chased Manchester City home last season and are currently in pursuit of Liverpool, with these sort of games needing to end in a victory in their favour if they are to top the table.
The Premier League betting odds suggest that Arsenal have a slightly bigger than 50% chance of landing a victory, with the north London side far from foot perfect on the road this term. They have won just four of their nine away games in the top flight this term and that suggests that they might be underpriced for this contest.
At the time of writing, Arsenal have not experienced defeat in the Premier League since losing at Newcastle at the beginning of November. Since then, it has been a trail of victories with the odd draw thrown in such as a 1-1 scoreline at Fulham, with the Gunners also held to a goalless draw against Everton.
The draw probably represents the best value bet considering that Brighton have had five of them in ten home matches. They also drew 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium earlier this term and have they have drawn five of their past seven clashes, with West Ham, Brentford and Aston Villa being held in recent encounters.
Can Brighton spring a surprise win? They have failed to win any of their previous three encounters at the AMEX Stadium, although they did beat Manchester City 2-1 on 9 November, with Fabian Hurzeler’s side aiming to get back on the winning trail. If you are going to back an Arsenal win, potentially look at both teams to score in a combination play.
Goals Under/Over
The bookies have Over 2.5 Goals at a fairly short price although Under 2.5 Goals has been the outcome in two of the previous three clashes between Brighton and Arsenal. There was a 1-1 scoreline at the Emirates where Declan Rice was controversially sent off early in the second half, while Bukayo Saka’s injury certainly makes the Gunners weaker from an attacking point-of-view.
However, there was everything to like about a recent 5-1 success at Crystal Palace without their star man and it’s noticeable that Gabriel Jesus has started to find his stride in front of goal, while there are other scoring threats in the form of Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz.
Brighton will aim to get on the front foot and four of the previous six encounters involving the Seagulls have seen Over 2.5 Goals. There was a recent 2-2 draw at Villa Park and a 3-1 home defeat against Crystal Palace, although a goalless draw against Brentford testifies that this could go either side of the line.
BTTS
Is this a game that customers should add to a BTTS Yes acca? This outcome is trading at around the 1.61 mark, with this implying a 66% chance of happening. This does tend to happen in the vast majority of Brighton clashes, with eleven of the previous twelve encounters featuring the Seagulls involving both sides finding the net.
It's quite a convincing stat for those wanting to go for BTTS Yes, although that recent goalless draw against Brentford might give some cause for concern. The home side did have seven shots on target and twelve shots off target in that game, although can they find a way to score past a strong Arsenal defence?
Arsenal are rock solid at the back in a general sense, although they might end up conceding a late consolation goal even if they outscore their opponents. Mikel Arteta’s team haven’t been involved in too many BTTS Yes games recently, with a recent 1-0 over Ipswich being in the hard-fought category of wins, while there was also a goalless draw against Everton. We should also bear in mind that Arsenal will be prepared to grind out a victory in this sort of game.
First Goalscorer
It was Kai Havertz who scored the only goal of the game against Ipswich and the German seems a reliable shout when it comes to finding the net. The forward has three goals in his previous four encounters at the time of writing, although it’s probably Martin Odegaard who will be on penalties and that’s worth bearing in mind.
Gabriel Jesus has incredibly managed to recently score five goals in the space of two matches for Arsenal and the Brazilian might now benefit from a run of games, with this forward worth considering for a first scorer bet. There’s also the prospect of Gabriel Martinelli stepping up to the plate in the absence of Bukayo Saka.
Brighton’s team tends to be subject to rotation although Joao Pedro is probably the most likely player to score and we do know he’s on penalties for the Seagulls. Simon Adingra has five for the season and was recently on target against Aston Villa although his only other EPL goal came at Everton at the beginning of the season.