English Premier
2025-12-27 - Arsenal vs Brighton
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 27th December 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
Arsenal
A dominant display was not rewarded with a win in normal time, but Arsenal fans will care little about that considering the team were able to push onto the League Cup Semi Final once again. The Penalty Shoot Out win over Crystal Palace has maintain the recent momentum picked up by Arsenal and they will be looking for another successful day at the Emirates Stadium back in the Premier League this Saturday.
The scheduling of that League Cup Quarter Final was not exactly ideal for Arsenal, but Mikel Arteta was able to rotate his starting eleven and so will be feeling good about how things are progressing in the 2025/26 season. The Gunners are top of the Premier League table and they have a 2 point lead over Manchester City, although chances are that they will kick off behind Pep Guardiola's team who play earlier in the day. This should not be a distraction for Arsenal whose sole focus has to be on improving the 7-1-0 record at the Emirates Stadium in the top flight.
Arsenal are now unbeaten in 4 games in all competitions and they have won consecutive Premier League fixtures since the 2-1 loss at Villa Park earlier this month. They will be looking for a sixth straight win at home in the Premier League, although the 9 game winning run in all competitions was ended in the draw in normal time in the League Cup this past week.
Gabriel is 'pushing hard' to return according to the manager, but this fixture may yet come too soon for him. A host of changes were made last time out and that should see key players restored to the starting lineup.
Brighton
In the last couple of years, Brighton fans cannot ignore the ambition of the board and the spending being done by the club. This has also placed extra pressure on the manager, whoever that is, and Fabian Hurzeler will be looking for the team to find a bit more consistency in the second half of the season as Brighton look to return to European Football.
Anything less may actually be considered a failure and the board may be asked to dip into the transfer window again this January to bolster the options available to the manager. The Seagulls are 9th in the Premier League table and have a healthy 24 points on the board, but Brighton will travel to North London with a 2-2-4 away record in the Division.
Brighton blew a 2-0 home lead over Aston Villa in an eventual 3-4 defeat earlier this month and that has sparked a run of 4 Premier League games without a victory, while they have failed to score in the last 2. They have won 1 of the last 6 away games played in all competitions and Brighton were beaten 2-0 at Liverpool most recently.
Lewis Dunk and Diego Gomez are back from suspension, while both Jan Paul van Hecke and Danny Welbeck are also expected to be available. Mats Wieffer is more of a doubt, although the manager is expecting him to travel with the squad.
Head to Head
Arsenal have already beaten Brighton 2-0 here in the League Cup this season.
Last season both Premier League games ended in 1-1 draws.
Brighton won 3 times at this ground between April 2022 and May 2023, but Arsenal are now unbeaten in 3 at home against The Seagulls and have won twice in that run.
Prediction
The defeat at Anfield looks relatively straight-forward on paper, but Brighton gave as much as they got that day and only poor finishing prevented them from causing more problems for the hosts.
Another failure to trouble the scoreboard last weekend against Sunderland has to be a concern for Brighton ahead of a trip to this part of North London.
They are going to be facing an Arsenal team that have perhaps looked a little more vulnerable at the back in recent weeks as injuries have piled up, but Mikel Arteta's team have still managed to pick up some clean sheets in wins at Club Brugge and Everton.
Arsenal did concede when last hosting and that was against bottom club Wolves so this is something to think about, but they have continued to create a lot of chances. One concern will be that Arsenal have once again been struggling to convert those opportunities from open play and that was the case again in the League Cup Quarter Final tie against Crystal Palace, but there is a lot of quality in this squad and you have to believe they will eventually begin to take the chances being created.
The Gunners have won 2 of the last 3 home games against Brighton in all competitions and they may have a slight edge in this one.
Fabian Hurzeler's men will come forward and look to pose problems for the hosts, but recent form has not really been good enough.
A run of 4 games without a win will have dented some confidence and, even with key players back in the squad, Brighton may just fall short against the current Premier League leaders.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton
