Key events
11 min: A Ben White shot hits Lewis Dunk’s hand in the Brighton penalty area but Arsenal don’t get a penalty. I’ve seen them given for a lot less. In the build-up to that shot, Saka took on and beat Hinshelwood again. He already has the young Brighton left-back on toast.
9 min: Saka gets in behind Hinshelwood again but doesn’t really test Verbruggen with a low diagonal shot towards the near post.
7 min: Jack Hinshelwood fouls Saka on the edge of the Brighton penalty area, right-hand side. Free-kick for Arsenal. Saka’s low free-kick is blocked by Kauro Mitoma. The ball breaks to Odegaard, who scoops an up-and-down flop shot over the defence to the edge of the six-yard box. Saka’s volley is blocked by Verbruggen.
6 min: Up against his former club, Leandro Trossard takes on Lewis Dunk and sends a cross towards the far post trying to pick out Havertz. It’s too high.
5 min: Arsenal are in the ascendency in these very early stages, but Joao Pedro wins possession in their half … only to lose it again courtesy of a loose pass into the penalty area that was intercepted by Thomas Partey.
3 min: Jean Paul van Hecke clears the ball for Brighton after Bukayo Saka had got the better of Jack Hinshelwood down the right flank, cut inside and forced a save out of Bart Verbruggen at his near post.
2 min: Kaoru Mitoma takes the ball from Martin Odegaard in the Brighton left-back area and goes sprinting up the touchline towards the halfway line, only to run it out of play for a throw-in.
Arsenal v Brighton is go …
1 min: Brighton get the ball rolling, their players wearing yellow shirts, shorts and socks. It’s booted forward and David Raya gets an early touch in the Arsenal goal.
Not long now: Led by their captains Lewis Dunk and Martin Odegaard, both sets of players make their way out on to the pitch behind referee Chris Kavanagh and Andy Madley. The last of the pre-match formalities are under way and kick-off is just a few minutes away.
I’d like to extend a warm welcome to all our readers, not least to any newbies who might have wandered into this report to pass the time while they while away their Saturday queueing online to get into a queue to buy tickets for a certain rock band’s reunion tour.
You’ll be pleased to hear that I’m not that fussed about going to see Oasis and will therefore be able to give what has the potential to be an excellent football match between Arsenal and Brighton my undivided attention.
Today’s match officials
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Referee: Chris Kavanagh.
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Assistants: Lee Betts and Richard West.
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Fourth official: John Busby.
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VAR: Andy Madley.
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Assistant VAR: Steve Meredith.
Those teams: Mikel Arteta makes one change to the side that beat Aston Villa last weekend, with Leandro Trossard coming in for Gabriel Martinelli on the back of his match-changing turn off the bench at Villa Park.
Fabian Hurzeler makes two changes, one of them enforced. In the absence of Billy Gilmour, who completed his move to Napoli yesterday, Carlos Baleba comes into Brighton’s midfield. Bart Verbruggen starts in goal, with Jason Steele dropping to the bench.
Arsenal v Brighton line-ups
Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Partey, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Trossard
Substitutes: Setford, Kiwior, Calafiori, Zinchenko, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Salah, Nwaneri, Martinelli
Brighton: Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Hinshelwood; Baleba, Milner, Joao Pedro; Minteh, Welbeck, Mitoma
Substitutes: Steele, Lamptey, Igor, Webster, Enciso, Rutter, Ayari, Adingra, Estupinan
🔴 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 ⚪️
One change from last time out – Trossard replaces Martinelli
Let’s keep this momentum going, Gunners ✊
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 31, 2024
Early Brighton team news
Brighton midfielder Matt O’Riley is out for the foreseeable future following the atrocious tackle visited upon him by Crawley Town’s Jay Williams nine minutes into his debut on Tuesday night. Fabian Hurzeler has since revealed that the Denmark international will need ankle surgery.
Solly March is also sidelined with a knee injury, while Matts Wieffer is expected to be in the squad after missing the past two games with a minor injury.
Signed from Fenerbahce for the thick end of £26m during the week, Turkish utility man Ferdi Kadioglu has already suffered a muscle injury in training.
Bart Verbruggen returned from injury to make his first appearance of the season against Crawley Town and could start today in place of Jason Steele in goal. Scottish midfielder Billy Gilmour left the club for Napoli yesterday.
Early Arsenal team news
In one of the bigger Deadline Day stories, Arsenal signed Raheem Sterling on a season loan from Chelsea but while the winger will not be in today’s squad because he wasn’t registered in time, he is at the Emirates to watch his new teammates in action.
It’s been and up-and-down week for Mikel Merino, who arrived at the club on Wednesday from Real Sociedad, then suffered a shoulder injury in his very first training session with his new teammates. The unlucky midfielder hurt himself in a collision with Gabriel and Mikel Arteta expects him to be out for “a few weeks”.
Gabriel Jesus remains sidelined with the groin injury that ruled him out of the trip to Villa Park last weekend, although his condition is not believed to be serious. We can expect to see him back in action after the international break.
Kieran Tierney is still recovering from the hamstring injury that forced him off during Scotland’s group game against Switzerland at the Euros, while his fellow full-back Takehiro Tomiyasu continues his recovery from the knee injury that caused him to miss pre-season.
Arsenal’s reserve goalkeeper for all of last season and the opening two games of this one, the England international Aaron Ramsdale is hoping to reboot his career after joining Southampton on a permanent deal.
Premier League: Arsenal v Brighton
With four wins out of four matches between them so far this season in the Premier League, something has to give when Arsenal host Brighton at the Emirates Stadium.
Brighton kicked off their campaign with wins over Everton and Manchester United, while their hosts have notched up victories over Wolves and Aston Villa that weren’t quite as straightforward as the 2-0 scorelines suggest.
The perfect start to the season of at least one of these two sides will come to an end during a game in which two of the Premier League’s youngest, most innovative and animated managers will gesticulate excitedly from adjacent technical areas.
Kick-off at the Emirate is at 12.30pm but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
