And so to the Stadium of Stone for something of a novelty, a 3pm kickoff on a Saturday, when Brighton rock into town. It will be the first time we have played them at home between Christmas and New Year’s Day — my late entry for the most useless stat of the year award.
Brighton and Hove Albion is a relative parvenu at top-table. We first met 14 of the current Premier League clubs in a Football League game more than a century ago, and three others more than half a century ago. Brighton did not reach the top flight for the first time until 1979, and quickly fell from grace with relegation in 1983. Only Bournemouth (2015) is a more recent ascendant.
The first time Brighton visited Highbury was in November 1979. They were beaten 3-0 thanks to goals from Graham Rix (a thunderbolt that some reports say burst the net), a penalty by Liam Brady and a late strike by Alan Sunderland.
It was the third game of the season between the two sides. The reverse league fixture and a League Cup tie had been played earlier at the Goldstone Ground. In all three games, Brighton failed to score.
However, there is nothing new under the sun, Brighton’s manager, Allan Mullery, claimed that the penalty should never have been awarded (you can take the boy out of Spurs, and all that) and Sunderland pulled his hamstring when stretching to score his goal, putting him out of a forthcoming European Cup Winners Cup tie in Magdeburg that club captain Pat Rice was also set to miss through injury.
Brighton’s ability to establish itself in the Premier League since returning in 2017 is largely down to some well-timed managerial hirings – peak Graham Potter and early Roberto De Zerbi — and a recruitment department that has a gimlet eye for overlooked young talent — Caicedo, Cucurella, Joao Pedro, MacAllister, Bissouma, Adinga, Undai and Robert Sanchez, for example. They realised a combined €375 million. To that, add the €58.5 million we paid for Benny Blanco, topped up by €24 million for Leandro Trossard.
Hürzeler
This is the third season in charge for the 32-year-old Texas-born Swiss-German Fabian Hürzeler, a coach who has not endeared himself to many fans of other teams. For the Seagulls’ faithful, however, he has led their team to eighth and ninth place finishes, which has only been surpassed once—the sixth place achieved in De Zerbi’s first season.
Brighton currently sits ninth, above Everton on goal difference, but as close to 15th as to eighth. Its league record is six wins, six draws and five losses for 24 points, with 25 goals scored and 23 conceded. Their sixth draw came last weekend, a drab 0-0 affair at home to Sunderland.
Although he presents his team sheet as a 4-2-3-1, his system is essentially a conservative version of De Zerbi’s 3-2-4-1. In possession, Brighton builds from the back with a base of three, two midfielders dropping in centrally for the ‘third-man’ passes, one of the two full-backs pushing high and wide, and two of the attacking midfielders completing the midfield box. Out of possession, Brighton collapses back into a 5-2-3 as soon as their fast press to regain possession fails, providing some protection against swift counterattacks. In his most recent visit to the Emirates, for October’s League Cup tie, Hürzeler deployed a 5-2-3 from the off, and lost 2-0.
Fun fact about Hürzeler: both his parents are dentists. An unhappy couple; they always look down in the mouth. I’ll get my coat.
The opposition
Dutch international Bart Verbruggen is now established as first-choice glove butler ahead of Jason Steele.
Immediately ahead of him, the hulking Lewis Dunk, who has been with Brighton since joining its U-12s in 2003, is set to return from a one-match ‘five-yellows’ suspension. Jan Paul van Hecke has been ill but is likely to be available to be alongside him in the middle of the back line. Either the Monégasque Olivier Boscagli, a summer arrival on a free transfer from PSV, or the young Italy international Diego Coppola, who came in July from Hellas Verona, will fill in, if needed.
The full-backs-cum-wing-backs that are key to Hürzeler’s system should be Netherlands international Mats Wieffer on the right and the Dutch-born Turkey international Ferdi Kadıoğlu on the left. Another Netherlands international, Jan Veltman, and Belgium international Maxim De Cuyper, who arrived in the summer from Club Brugge, will be the fresh legs for those positions, respectively. De Cuyper has also been used further forward on the left.
The highly rated DM Carlos Baleba will miss the game because he is with the Cameroon national squad at the Africa Cup of Nations. That likely means 22-year-old Yasin Ayari, who has recently nailed down a place in the Sweden side, will join the even younger Worthing-born Jack Hinshelwood in the midfield engine room.
Since mid-November, the tenacious Hinshelwood has been playing himself back into the team after a ligament injury, before which he was the regular left-back for England’s U-21s, with MLS skipping that rung of the national age group teams to go straight into the senior squad.
Nor let us forget James Milner, who will turn 40 on January 4, but still gets minutes off the bench. He is the oldest active player in the Premier League. You are now free to forget him again.
The attacking midfielders will likely be the speedy 21-year-old Gambian winger Yankuba Minteh and 22-year-old Paraguay international Diego Gómez, who missed last weekend’s Sunderland game because of a five-yellows suspension, plus one of 21-year-old Brajan Gruda, who has been called up by Germany but not yet capped, 19-year old Tom Watson, who has a couple of England U-21 caps and was bought from Sunderland in the summer for €12 million, and the comparative veteran, at 28-years old, Japan international Kaoru Mitoma, who has struggled to hold down a starting place this season.
Hnshelwood’s 17-year-old cousin, midfielder Harry Howell, whom Hürzeler has tagged as a future star, might get a spot on the bench.
The tall Frenchman Georginio Rutter is expected to start up front. Hürzeler is short of attackers. Danny Welbeck, Brighton’s top scorer this term with seven and formerly of this parish, has a lower back injury. He will likely be only fit enough for the bench. Another alum, Amario Cozier-Duberry, who we sold to Brighton in 2024, is on loan at Bolton.
It is likely too soon for winger Solly March, who has been sidelined with a knee injury, to return, while 19-year-old Stefanos Tzimas, acquired from Nuremberg last February for €26.5 million, has an ACL injury. Charalampos Kostoulas, a year younger than his fellow Greek but whose promise induced Brighton to pay Olympiacos €35 million for him in the summer, is being gradually introduced to the rigours of Premier League football.
The Arsenal
Our team against Brighton will more resemble the one that finished the League Cup tie against Palace than the one that started it. Piero Hincapié and Gabriel Martinelli are unlikely to be available due to knocks. Arteta teased Kai Havertz’s potential return, but a spot on the bench for the Villa game seems more likely.
Therefore:
Raya
Timber, Saliba, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly
Ødegaard, Zubimendi, Rice
Saka, Gyökeres, Trossard
For the second consecutive league match, we could be off the top by the time we kick off on Saturday, so this is yet another must-win game. Brighton lost two and drew two of their four most recent games and have not scored in three. On the other side of the ledger, they have lost only three of their eight Premier League visits.
Hopefully, some of the team discovered new shooting boots when they opened their stockings, and the whole team will find some festive fluidity in front of a home crowd. 3-0 to the team in Santa’s colours.
Enjoy the game, ‘holics, near and far.
Excellent preview Ned despite some excruciating humour! We have already met Brighton at our place this season and triumphed 2-0 in the Carabao Cup . In the early days of meeting them on a regular basis they were very much our bunnies but those days are long gone . Nevertheless we should have enough rested legs to deal with them and I’m anticipating a 2-1 victory . We are getting very short of defenders and have a very big game next week so I hope we don’t increase the stat I read today that we’ve made the most injury- induced substitutions in the division this season .
Above all let’s shut up the highly unlikeable Mr. Hurzeler . Come on you Gunners!
Thanks Ned,
Team looks about right and I like 3-0 as a score line.
And also I agree Hurzeler is a dislikable dickhead, though
I only inferred that last part.
Be nice too see some players coming back too
Nice preview Ned! Thank you.
I think your team is the likeliest but maybe Hincapié has recovered and can slot back to his position with Ricky returning to left back role?
Danny is enjoying a golden autumn of his career and if he plays I suspect he will get a goal. But we should be good enough to put a few past them and 3-1 seems a reasonable scoreline for this one. Would be great to see the attacking fluidity returning and chances being taken, with Ødegaard orchestrating control.
Come on Arsenal!
Thanks Ned
Just getting over actually winning an Ashes test here so hoping that the excitement can carry over into an emphatic win over those chip-stealing seagulls. Many goals and a clean sheet will do nicely before smashing those Villains.
UTA
Your previews often inspire a great deal of nervousness in my pre-match preparations, Ned as they regularly paint pictures in which our opponents are some worrisome combination of fearsome gladiators and olympic athletes. I feel less nervous based on today’s offering.
Should I be worried?
Any scoreline that returns three points and takes us a game closer to the twin returns of Gabriel and Havertz will do very nicely thank you very much.
Thanks Ned for an informative and entertaining preview. This bunch have evolved from a punchbag into a banana skin and furthermore have replaced a couple of decent chaps as coaches with an irritating troll. We owe them big time for conspiring to get Declan a second yellow card last season and knocking them out of the Carabao Cup is insufficient retribution.
The stats gurus suggest that, as we have been consistently underperforming our Xg in terms of actual goals scored (to those of us of a more traditional bent – missing a barrowload of nailed on chances), someone is in for a drubbing and I don’t see why Brighton should not be the first victim. That would warm the cockles on a sunny but cold afternoon in N5.
However, as much as I think you have called the starting XI correctly, I expect a tight contest and a close result, perhaps even another nervy 1-0 to the Arsenal – that just seems to be the way of things these days.
Cheers Ned, another informative and entertaining preview. Your team suggestion seems spot on, subject of course to the normal obfuscation from MA as to who is available. I would be most surprised to see Big Gabby start, perhaps a short cameo towards the end of the match if the state of the game permits.
I hope the players received some new scoring boots for Xmas and we can score some goals from open play – we can’t rely on Owen Goal to maintain his form of late! The Brighton manager has come across as an obnoxious runt whenever talking about us so a good Xmas stuffing would be most appropriate for today.
COYRRR
Excellent Ned – including the humour !
Ignore TTG and his “excruciating “ remarks – you had me at “Brighton rock “ 🤣
You nearly lost me at naming Cucurella as talent and I was hoping for a bit of vitriol aimed at Veltman after his disgraceful antics last season teamed with the equally disgraceful decision by Kavanagh. It’s possibly a bit strange that the very rationally irritating (see what I did there ?) Hürzeler has gotten rid of the exceptionally irritating Malpass who would have seemed ideally suited to the boss.
Brighton are certainly not averse to kicking an opponent or two in order to shore up their defence – as evidenced by the wave of yellow cards they have attracted. A shame really as they are capable of producing football that can set them apart from their mid table piers. Welbeck’s injury sounds a bit fishy to me – are you sure he’s it been beached by a groyne strain ? Where was that coat stand ….?
Come on you Rreddsss !
Uplympian had misspelled runt !
Wow. 3-4-3 and no Timber!
Raya
Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori
Zubimendi, Rice, Merino, Odegaard
Saka, Trossard, Gyokeres
Bench:
Arrizabalaga, Gabriel, Jesus, Eze, Martinelli, Norgaard, Madueke, Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly
Unless we’re playing someone from midfield at RB.
I hope Timber is ok soon.
Merino would be the only candidate, OM, but I can’t see it. This is going to be terra nova for us as a tactical game.
Lots of defensive work for Saka and Trossard.
MLS starting. No Calafiori.
Rice at RB it seems
How many defenders can we lose at one time.
Good Gabriel is coming back
That’s more like it from Ode!
Missed seeing him drill those in the bottom corner
Owen Goal can’t stop scoring!
Hope it’s the winner
OG comes through again, but what a save by Raya from Minteh to preserve the three points.
Raya definitely worth two points today
Good to see Big Gabbi back, too.
Three points will do, OG having an inspired month
Considering we had to throw together a defence we played very well first half.
I have to say that Rice makes a helluva better fill-in right back than Partey.
Fortress
Calafiori’s injury is apparently a hamstring. So that will be weeks out.
Villa’s win at Chavski sets up the game
nicely for Tuesday.
Three points, excellent by definition when the going gets a little difficult.
I had a dream last night in which Mikel had his full squad available for a game…….
Tuesday night may be too early for quick recoveries by Timber and Cala but fingers crossed.
>>>>>>>