Arsenal Seek to Keep Title Hopes Alive against Tricky Brighton
After a convincing 2-0 away win to Newcastle at St James’ Park last weekend, Arsenal will be seeking to keep their hope of a first Premier League title in 19 years alive as they host a tricky Brighton side at the Emirate Stadium tomorrow. The Gunners would be craving to make it three wins in a row against an equally ambitious Seagulls in what is expected to be a scintillating fixture
Still alive in the two-horse Premier League title race, Arsenal return to the Emirates Stadium to tackle Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners made it back-to-back wins with a gritty 2-0 triumph at Newcastle United last weekend, allowed Mikel Arteta’s men to cut the gap to Manchester City in the table down to one point, but the champions hold a game in hand and meet Everton a couple of hours before the Gunners and the Seagulls kick off.
On the back of contrasting results in the extraordinary Bank Holiday gameweek, title challengers Arsenal welcome European contenders Brighton to the Emirates tomorrow afternoon in the Premier League.
Arteta’s side assured themselves of a top-two finish by seeing off Newcastle United 2-0 last weekend, while the Seagulls suffered a sensational 5-1 beating at the hands of Everton.
In his own words, Arsenal manager Arteta had hoped to invoke a fire within his players’ bellies by showing them clips from their Amazon documentary of last year’s humbling 2-0 loss to Newcastle, which all but ended their dreams of a Champions League comeback.
A similarly meek display at St James’ Park last weekend could have also had major implications on the Gunners’ end-of-season aspirations, but Arteta’s side unexpectedly nullified the Magpies’ threat and made the long journey home in high spirits thanks to a sweetly-struck Martin Odegaard opener and Fabian Schar’s own goal.
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.
Sunday’s contest is not the be-all and end-all for Arsenal’s Premier League title chances, but it is arguably the biggest remaining test of the Gunners’ mettle ahead of their final two fixtures with Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers, so a first clean sheet in eight games at St James’ Park would have been welcomed with open arms.
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 weather on the South Coast was as miserable as Brighton’s mood on the recent Bank Holiday Monday, where Everton astonishingly tore the Seagulls to shreds to give their survival hopes a major boost and leave De Zerbi lost for words.
The Seagulls’ humiliation on a day of goal-laden extravaganzas came in the wake of their 6-0 demolition job over Wolverhampton Wanderers and successful revenge mission over Manchester United, both of which served to keep De Zerbi’s men in the continental conversation, sitting seventh.
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.
Meanwhile, seeking to somehow replicate their mauling of Brighton, Everton return to a buoyant Goodison Park to host Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.
Sean Dyche’s side stunned the footballing landscape by crushing Brighton 5-1 earlier this week, before the visitors drew 1-1 with Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.
More than a few eyebrows would have been raised when Abdoulaye Doucoure took just 34 seconds to propel Everton into the lead against Brighton, and those raised eyebrows had soon turned into gobsmacked facial expressions when the Toffees continued to carve the Seagulls open for fun.
Doucoure and Dwight McNeil both ended that South Coast spectacular with braces to their name – either side of a Jason Steele own goal – and not even a consolation goal for Alexis Mac Allister could wipe the smiles off the faces of the travelling faithful, especially with some perhaps travelling in hope rather than expectation.
Having ended a seven-game winless run in the Premier League in emphatic fashion, Everton will enter the gameweek hovering just above danger in 17th place before the first ball is kicked, although they could be demoted back into the bottom three today if Leeds United pull off their own surprise win over Newcastle United.
Not since the beginning of October have the Toffees managed to prevail in back-to-back Premier League contests, but the morale of Sean Dyche’s men ought to be through the roof right now.
Furthermore, the Toffees have only failed to make the net ripple in two of their last 10 contests, although they have just one clean sheet to show from their last eight in the Premier League and have gone winless in three successive home matches, but Man City have had bigger European fish to fry.
It was a vintage Champions League display from Real Madrid in the opening 45 minutes of their Bernabeu battle with Man City, who dominated proceedings in the Spanish capital but were hit with a Vinicius Junior-sized sucker punch, as the Brazilian picked out the top corner with a sumptuous strike.
However, the individual excellence in Pep Guardiola’s ranks shone through too, as Kevin De Bruyne drilled home a sizzling low shot to restore parity and allow the Premier League champions to travel back to the Etihad satisfied with their night’s work ahead of Wednesday’s winner-takes-all second leg.
Prior to that clash of the behemoths, Man City had made a 2-1 win over Leeds United far nervier than it needed to be, but that triumph – their 10th in a row in the Premier League allowed them to maintain their one-point lead over reborn challengers Arsenal with a game in hand.
The visit of Carlo Ancelotti’s continental champions will no doubt be playing on the mind of the Etihad faithful, but Guardiola and co cannot allow themselves to be distracted from their domestic duties as they seek a fifth top-flight away win in succession – one which would temporarily take them four points clear of Arsenal before the Gunners meet Brighton a couple of hours later.
Out of the mere four points that Man City have dropped at home this season, two of them came at against Everton on New Year’s Eve – being held to a 1-1 draw by the Toffees – but the champions boast a five-game winning streak at Goodison Park since being stunned 4-0 in January 2017.
Culled from Thisdaylive.com except picture
