While the Manchester City juggernaut is showing no signs of waning anytime soon, Arsenal are at least forcing Pep Guardiola’s men to look over their shoulder in second place – one point behind the reigning champions, who have a game in hand and take on Everton a couple of hours before kickoff at the Emirates.
Arteta’s side also enter the weekend on a 17-game scoring streak in all competitions – racking up a staggering 14 goals in their last four Emirates showdowns – but their lack of resilience at home is well-documented, and Roberto De Zerbi has warned Arsenal to expect “the true Brighton” after last week’s unexpected mauling.
The Seagulls also have the benefit of games in hand on the teams around them, although Newcastle and Man City are both lying in wait between now and the end of the season, and consistency on the road is hard to come by for Brighton, who have just two wins to show from their last seven away matches in the top flight.
De Zerbi’s side have at least found the back of the net in 11 successive away games – albeit while keeping just two clean sheets on rival turf all season long – and the Seagulls have remarkably prevailed in three of their last four trips to Arsenal, although the Gunners ended a turbulent 2022 in style with a 4-2 Amex success on New Year’s Eve.
Many Gooners had resigned themselves to not seeing Saliba on the pitch again this season due to his slow recovery from a back injury, while Zinchenko sustained a calf problem at St James’ Park and will likely be covered by Kieran Tierney for the final few games of the month. Having excelled in the engine room at Newcastle, Jorginho may have done enough to keep Thomas Partey out of the team again, but ex-Brighton man Leandro Trossard should accept a spot on the bench against his former employers.
March and Webster’s absences adds to the visitors’ perennial fitness concerns, which also include Jeremy Sarmiento (ankle), Tariq Lamptey (knee), Joel Veltman (thigh), Adam Lallana (thigh) and Jakub Moder (knee), and only Veltman may have the slimmest chance of lining up at the Emirates. In the wake of such a horrific humbling, De Zerbi will ponder alterations in the shape of Levi Colwill, Julio Enciso and Evan Ferguson, the latter of whom could force ex-Arsenal man Danny Welbeck down to the dugouts.
