Match Preview: Brighton v Arsenal; Emery’s selection headaches continue

The Boxing Day fixtures sees the end of the first half of the season and Arsenal firmly in control of their Champion’s League destiny. They look to continue that form as they travel to Brighton Hove Albion and look to add to the home side’s recent misery.

For Arsenal the match pretty much presents many of the same issues that Burnley did in the last match at the Emirates. With selection issues for Emery and a big match looming ahead on the weekend against Liverpool, this isn’t a match that makes us all feel good in advance of it.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

Like Burnley, Brighton Hove Albion offer a very old-school English flavor to the match. Chris Hughton hasn’t changed how he sets up his team at any point in his career.

The team under Hughton sets up either in a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1 set in a traditional defensively-focused low block (sound familiar).  Like Burnley they want to keep the field narrow and take away the passing channels of their opposition.

Where they’ve succeeded this season that perhaps Burnley has not is that they do like to exploit the mistakes of opponents and hit them quickly on the counter. If they can’t take advantage of you that way, they look for set pieces and size and physicality to beat you there.

His team cedes possession and has spent more time playing in their own third then all but 3 teams in the league. They are the antithesis of attractive football and with the added physicality to their approach, this isn’t going to look to dissimilar to what we saw on Saturday.

SAME PLAN AS THE LAST TIME

The difficulty for Arsenal as has always been the case, is beating teams that consistently play the low block in order to deny a superior team chances at goal. We saw it just this last week.

Under Wenger the problem became a lack of fluidity and movement that opened the opposition in order to find space and get chances on goal. So far under Emery that doesn’t seem to be the problem.

Arsenal still look as patient as ever when on the ball, the rotation around the man on the ball has forced defenders to break out of their shape and open with Arsenal getting men in behind. Even in the loss to Southampton we were seeing that, but we lacked the creativity to fully take advantage of it.

Of course, the problem for tomorrow has less to do with how we want to play and how the opposition will play. No, for Arsenal the bigger issue is going to be the lineup.

SELECTION STRUGGLES

 If this preview seems very familiar its because a lot of the issues, we were facing on Saturday are similar to what we face here in the midweek. Except they’ve been exacerbated by the additional injuries to Mkhitaryan and Monreal.

Throw in the less than stellar performance of Mohammed Elneny and Unai Emery has some real decisions to make, especially with the tie against Liverpool only days away.

If I can fault Emery on anything these days its his lack of rotation in the League, especially when the fixtures are getting more and more congested.  I still don’t understand why he’s force-fitting Granit Xhaka into a CB role, when someone like Zech Medley is available.

With opposition like Brighton and Burnley on the weekend, teams that aren’t going to give you a whole lot in the attack, it seems like a good time to bring up a player who’s shown promise in the U23s and possess the skillset necessary to be a success at the position we’re currently lacking the most.

This is Emery’s first Christmas with Arsenal and perhaps there should be some leeway given to him through this period. But when team selection costs you valuable points as it did against Southampton, then leeway isn’t something you are going to get.

Emery has to manage these next few days and matches the best he can and he should be thinking about really leaning on the full squad to rotate and rotate appropriately or the chase for top 4 could be over by the time we get out of the festive period.

Players to Watch

Arsenal: Mesut Özil. Last week he wore the captains arm band and was instrumental through out the match. We will need his creativity again if we are going to unlock another stubborn defensive team.

Brighton. Florin And one. Has made the striker spot in the BHA set up his own.

Injuries and Suspensions

Arsenal: Mkhitaryan (foot), Monreal (thigh), Bellerin (calf), Kolasinac (thigh), Mustafi (hamstring) Holding (ACL), Welbeck (ankle), Mavropanos (groin)

Brighton: Izquierdo (knee), Jahanbakhsh (ankle)

Form (last 5)

Arsenal: WDWLW

Brighton: WWLLL

Goals Scored (average per game)

Arsenal: 2.5 (away)

Brighton: 1.63 (home)

Goals Conceded (average per game)

Arsenal: 1.88 (away)

Brighton: 1.25 (home)

What the Coach Says (courtesy of BBC.co.uk)

Brighton is the same, a very tough match physically, very organised and, like with Burnley, a very good coach who is working very well.

“It is a challenge and I respect those teams a lot because they also have good players. They decide to do a line-up with physical players with a lot of crosses for the strikers for heading in our box.

“We need to defend very far in our box to defend better against that.”

Match Officials

Referee: Anthony Taylor (16M 48Y 0R)
Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn
Fourth official: Kevin Friend

Broadcast Information

UK: Sky One: 17:15 BST

US: NBC Sports Network 12:15 EST

Match Facts (courtesy of BBC.co.uk) 

• Brighton ended a five-match losing streak in this fixture with a 2-1 victory in the most recent meeting nearly 10 months ago.
• The Seagulls have won each of their last three home games against Arsenal in the top flight.
• A fifth win in nine Premier League away games this season would ensure Arsenal surpass their points tally on the road for the whole of 2017-18.
• They could become the first team to score at least twice in each of their opening nine away games in a top-flight campaign.
• Arsenal have lost just one of their last 13 league fixtures on Boxing Day (W10, D2).
• The Gunners have scored an unrivalled 29 second-half goals in 2018-19.
• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the division’s leading scorer this season, with 12 goals. He has scored 22 goals in 31 Premier League appearances for Arsenal, five more than any other player for the club after 31 games in the competition; Thierry Henry is next, on 17.

YAMA Predicts:
Bright Hove Albion 0 – 2 Arsenal