Arsenal vs Brighton & Hove Albion 05/05/19

5 May 2019

Encouraged by a 3-1 home win over Valencia in their midweek’s Europa League encounter, Arsenal return to the Premier League action as they host out-of-form Brighton & Hove Albion to the Emirates Stadium.

A run of poor form has seen the hosts lose four of their last five Premier League clashes (W1), conceding precisely three goals per match three times across those defeats. Although they’ve suffered a shock 3-2 home loss to Crystal Palace in their last PL home fixture, the Gunners have been impressive at the Emirates Stadium in 2019, securing a maximum of 21 points from their seven PL home outings since the turn of the year. If Unai Emery’s men win here, it would probably see Brighton concede over 1.5 goals, given the fact all of Arsenal’s 11 competitive home wins in 2019 have seen them net 2+ match goals. What’s more, ten of those triumphs have been settled by a comfortable two-goal margin, with the North Londoners restricting their rivals to a maximum of one match goals in each.

Meanwhile, the visitors fight tooth and nail to avoid relegation, as they currently sit 17th with a four-point lead over 18th-placed Cardiff City. The Seagulls are not enjoying the best of times considering they’ve sustained five defeats in their last seven PL games (D2), with their last league win dating back to early March (2-1 over Crystal Palace on the road). For Brighton, goals have been at a premium. They’ve scored barely one goal in their past seven league fixtures, struggling to find the net in all four of their previous competitive away games. Mainly thanks to the fact Chris Hughton’s players have managed to restrict their rivals to a maximum of one goal per match in five of their last eight competitive meetings, six of those clashes have featured under 2.5 goals.