Arsenal will face yet another physically intensified challenge when they travel to Amex Stadium for Boxing day Evening encounter. Arsenal stand 5th in the League standings, behind Chelsea with a goal difference keeping the Blues on 4th.
Brighton & Hove Albion stand 12th and enjoy a 9 points cushion from the bottom three to avoid the relegations. However, they have lost three of their last games and are likely to lose their 4th if Chris Hughton doesn’t find a way out to stop Aubameyang.
Arsenal will have to weather the storm coming their way in much more sensible fashion than they did against Burnley in their 3-1 victory that brought them to level points with Chelsea, courtesy a win by Leicester over the Blues.
When and Where?
Date: December 26, Wednesday
Time: 10:45 pm IST
Venue: Amex Stadium
Team News
Arsenal’s ace Henrikh Mkhitariyan is out due to a metatarsal tear and will not feature before February.
Nacho Monreal also suffered a hamstring injury before limping off the ground in the match against Burnley.
Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Mustafi still remain sidelined which leaves Emery with very little options. Mesut Ozil was brilliant in last outing and is expected to start the game, again.
Brighton have a big blow and will be without Lewis Dunk following his red card suspension against Bournemouth. Shane Duffy is likely to return back with Glenn Murray expected to start.
Head to Head
Brighton have won all of their last three top flight home games against the Gunners and not only that but they also won last contest in March 2-1.
Nevertheless, Arsenal have been triumphant 12 times as compared to Brighton’s 3 in a total of 17 games that both the teams have faced together.
Probable Lineup
Brighton XI: Ryan; Montoya, Balogun, Duffy, Bernardo; March, Stephens, Propper, Bissouma, Locadia; Murray
Arsenal XI: Leno; Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Koscielny, Kolasinac; Torreira, Xhaka; Iwobi, Ozil, Aubameyang; Lacazette
