Brighton v Arsenal Confirmed Team News & Predicted XI with Gunners missing four

The AmEx will play host to Brighton and Arsenal this evening as the teams look to close out the calendar year with a win.

The Gunners will need to secure the three points without their player of the season so far in Gabriel Magalhaes, who has won each of our monthly Player of the Month awards so far this term. The Brazilian followed protocols to miss the clash with Chelsea after coming into close contact with a positive Coronavirus case, but is now ruled out after testing positive himself.

David Luiz and Willian also had to miss the previous tie after showing symptoms which could have been linked with Covid, but are now expected to return to full training on December 31 ahead of our next match.

Thomas Partey is the last named that is currently unavailable for today’s match, having limped out of the tie with Tottenham at the start of the month.

The latter trio are all reported by Arsenal.com to have returned to outside training as they are monitored ahead of their returns.

Predicted XI:

Leno
Bellerin Luiz Mari Tierney
Ceballos Xhaka
Pepe Willock Martinelli
Aubameyang

It is tough knowing how well certain players have recovered from the clash with Chelsea, and as much as I would love to see Emile Smith Rowe carry on from his performance, I feel he might drop down to the bench this evening.

With a quick turnaround in matches, it makes sense for many players to be rotated, but your guess is as good as mine as to which players have shown they are most ready.

Who would you like to see keep their place after the win over Chelsea?

Patrick

Tags Brighton Brighton v Arsenal

34 Comments

  1. There is no need changing the team that beat Chelsea, but knowing How stubborn Arteta is, I predict this…

    Leno
    Bellerin-Holding-Mari-Tierney
    Elneny-Xhaka
    Pepe-ESR-Martinelli
    Aubameyang

    1. What do you mean there’s no need to change the squad? How many teams made use of their compete squad that participated last weekend?
      Are we meant to run Martinelli and Saka down? Smith Rowe should play, but Martinelli has played 4 straight games now since he got back from injury.
      Only thing is we’ll just hope Pepe and co performs and we win.
      No need running the young kids down or attacking the coach for rotating

      1. Our case is different can’t you see? At the moment we need rhythm and momentum to get us out of relegation mess. Same selection that beat Chelsea please but different substitutions

        1. But who takes the blame if one of Martinelli and Saka gets injured or gets a knock because of fatigue?
          You or the manager?
          When last did Bukayo Saka got a rest?
          Martinelli after coming back a long term injury has played 4 straight intensive games. City n Chelsea included.
          Those boys should get a rest if they ain’t up for it.
          If you can’t trust Auba and Pepe to get us a result against Brighton, might as well ship both of them out since they’re useless

          1. Dont fix something if ain’t broken. These lads are young and have higher recovery rate..that’s normal science. Also apart from Saka they have not played too many matche so I don’t see the point in resting them as they have been resting almost whole year. Saka is well rested as well because he is usually regular in EPL so does not play a lot in other competitions. It’s about Auba or Pepe doing the job. It’s about confidence at the moment and momentum of a win. Why destroy that. If these players can’t play few matches in a row then the manager has to have a look at his training methods and routines. There are top class teams and mangers in world who play almost same 11 week in week out.

      2. I guess from you perspective Arsenal is doing well? for me Martinelli is always a threat going forward…. for me he should play today’s match to at least see if Arsenal could get a win tonight.

        1. I can understand your point .I would love all three young stars to play this game again but hey! this is fixture congestion and rotation is very important .If it were a weekly premiership fixture it will be the right call but for now ,rotation is very crucial and this is when players will not want to run away from responsibilities knowing fully well that their spots are up for the taking

  2. If our coach change or bench sake, ESR for pepe that means he is neophyte and stupid coach for goodness sake

    1. No tweaks play the same 11, the youngs lad did not work hard and put in good performance so they are penalised for it and benched. They are pumped after the win over Chelsea and are unphased by the poor showing so far this season as both Martenelli and ESR were not part of it so I think they are more confident with their tails up along with Saka. Play them. I don’t understand the logic what If they get injured, what are you going to do with a fit players if you keep loosing points?? Also it’s not like they have won us 10 games in a row and we don’t want to risk it. Last game can be one off so let them play and make them selves absolutely crucial for the team then we can start thinking on the lines of if it is worth the risk to play them in every single match.

  3. we had an intensive game on Saturday, another one next Saturday. with ESR and Gabi coming back from injuries and Saka under a lot of pressure, Arteta has to rotate. because we have a mediocre squad it means some mediocre players will have to be played. so I hope fans won’t start with “why Arteta plays X and Y” shit. he plays mediocre players because he has to.

      1. Well, i thought i thought you make constructive argument, but from this comment i see you are one of those who thinks others are insensible because they have a different opinion so there is no need replying to your comments.

        1. There are some so called true and sensible fans here who think they are only try Gunners and others are just stupid..

          1. other fans are sensible. my point was that Arteta is also sensible when he plays Pepe or Willian even though they are poor.

    1. @OxInTheBox, makes no sense. You are calling established proven player like Auba mediocre. You think because the youngsters have performed well in one game they are better then him. 🤣😂🤣…you guys really change like weather…first when same set of players were winning games and FA cup they were good enough, manager (UE) was poor because he could not get most out of them then when the slump came in same players are useless and mediocre. Now youngsters have won a single game and all of a sudden they are great players ..what next?? If we go into another slump with same youngsters you guys will turn around and say every one is avg and it’s not manager’s fault for having a mediocre squad. It’s always this or that , excuses excuses but it is never the manger’s fault or his short comings.

  4. Bellerin holding mari tiernay … seems fine to me against this team
    Need to improve midfield which was overwhelmed against Chelsea so AMN and Ceballos should be in with elneny (until partey returns and we bring in a proper AM)
    I think we should be careful with martinelli just coz he’s coming back from injury so would go with laca aube and saka up front with idea of resting saka in second half if we have comfortable lead

  5. THIS IS A MUST WIN MATCH….ALSO THE FANS SHOULD GET BEHIND ARTETA AND STOP THE NEGATIVE ALTITUDE THEY ARE GIVING HIM….

    WITH TOGETHERNESS WE SHALL BOUNCE BACK….

    COMMON….GUNNERS

  6. I AM MISSING GABRIEL……

    WISHING HIM QUICK RECOVERY…

    COMMON GUNNERS….. THIS IS A MUST WIN GAMES GUYS…
    0-3…..

  7. Why change winning team and how will they gain the confidence when you give them one match and the next one you bench them you have to be ruthless like kloup he doesn’t change his winning team unless forced by injury.for starters we’ve tried senior players on several occasions and failed to deliver then why do you bother the youngsters who have the passion for their team as well as cementing their place in the starting team like saka has done.

  8. ESR only played abour an hour and Martinelli was subbed around 70 minutes. Neither of them should be fatigued tbh. Laca on the other hand played +90 minutes so maybe Auba will take his place.

  9. The Amex pitch tends to be heavy so ground conditions could influence the selection.Elneney looked really leggy against Chelsea so I expect Ceballos to play in midfield with Xhaka and ESR although personally I would prefer AMN to the Spaniard.Brighton have the tallest back three in the League and I expect a lot of pressure from set pieces tonight.They will throw their giants forward at every opportunity.

  10. Martinelli should start and be subed later, he is the reason our attack looked lethal after months of mediocrity .Martinelli’s intelligent and energetic runs are what we desperately need now and non of our current attackers has those qualities.

  11. I am in agreement with Eddie. We have to rotate a little bit. GM and BS and ESR are just too important. I would like to stick with the back 5 plus midfield and continue with Laca. So my team is as below:-
    Leno
    Bellerin Holding Mari KT
    Elneny or Ceballos Xhaka
    ESR or Pepe
    Nelson Laca Maitland-Niles

    Bench
    GM, BS, PEA: To come on with maybe 25 mins to play to change the game.
    —————————————————————–
    No room for any of the 2 Brazilians.

  12. Martinelli should be handed the no.11 shirt next season when Torriera i s gone just like what happened to Saka.

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