MX23RW : Wednesday, April 24 01:01:16| >> :120:5629:5629:
[monks data]
Attendance: 30,608
Brighton logo
Premier League | Gameweek 19
Dec 26, 2018 at 5.15pm UK
 
Arsenal logo

1-1

Locadia (35')
FT(HT: 1-1)

Emery warns Arsenal to expect another physical test at Brighton

Victory on Boxing Day could see the Gunners move into the Premier League top four.

Unai Emery expects Brighton to pose a similar physical challenge to Burnley as the Arsenal head coach aims for a Boxing Day victory at the AMEX Stadium.

The Gunners secured a 3-1 win over Burnley on Saturday with striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored twice, claiming he had never played in a game that was as feisty.

There were a number of flashpoints and Clarets boss Sean Dyche afterwards claimed that Arsenal players had dived during what proved to be a fairly hot-tempered afternoon.

Arsenal boss Unai Emery expects the match at Brighton to be another feisty affair, like last season's.
Arsenal boss Unai Emery expects the match at Brighton to be another feisty affair, like last season's (Gareth Fuller/PA Images).

The win was enough to take Arsenal level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea and Emery expects Brighton to offer a similar challenge to his players.

"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.

Shkodran Mustafi may be back from hamstring trouble for Arsenal's trip to Brighton.
Shkodran Mustafi may be back from hamstring trouble for Arsenal's trip to Brighton (Jonathan Brady/PA Images).

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

The challenge for Arsenal, who lost to Chris Hughton's Seagulls on the south-coast last season, is made more difficult due to a defensive injury crisis.

Emery could be without as many as five defenders for the trip to the AMEX as he continues to turn to the likes of Granit Xhaka and Stephan Lichtsteiner to fill in at centre-back.

Nacho Monreal is in contention to play at Brighton despite a recent hamstring complaint.
Nacho Monreal is in contention to play at Brighton despite a recent hamstring complaint. (Nick Potts/PA)

Rob Holding, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Hector Bellerin are out but Nacho Monreal could recover from a hamstring issue which forced him off in the win at Burnley.

Emery can turn to captain Laurent Koscielny, who has just returned from a seven-month injury lay-off, with Shkodran Mustafi set to return to training this week following a hamstring injury.

There was no such good news for winger Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with club confirming on Monday that the Armenia international is set for six weeks on the sidelines with a foot problem.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Mark Mann-Bryans, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '1b2bd6a9-f008-465e-8319-57303e82105f');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Emery warns Arsenal to expect another physical test at Brighton'});

ID:345118: cacheID:345118:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7818:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Sean Dyche watches on during the Premier League game between Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley on December 15, 2018
Read Next:
Gallagher: 'Ref right over Burnley penalty'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Munar
Borges
10am
Navone
Popyrin
10am
Vukic
Daniel
10am
Bouzas Maneiro
Badosa
10am
Davis
Sherif
10am
Putintseva
Yuan
10am
Stephens
Trevisan
10am
Zhu
Jimenez Kasintseva
11.30am
Altmaier
Landaluce
11.30am
Rinderknech
Shevchenko
11.30am
Safiullin
Seyboth Wild
11.30am
Arango
Anisimova
11.30am
Sorribes Tormo
Pera
11.30am
Zhang
Rogers
12pm
Osaka
Minnen
12pm
Vekic
Siegemund
1pm
Darderi
Monfils
1pm
Karatsev
Marozsan
1pm
Van Assche
Bergs
1pm
Linette
Cocciaretto
1pm
Wang
Tomova
1pm
Wang
Dolehide
1.30pm
Dart
Bucsa
1.30pm
Raducanu
Lourdes Carle
2.30pm
Bronzetti
Gracheva
2.30pm
Frech
Cristian
2.30pm
Hibino
Krueger
3pm
Coric
Hassan
3pm
Kokkinakis
Draper
3pm
Nakashima
Bagnis
3pm
Van De Zandschulp
Eubanks
4pm
Baptiste
Saville
4pm
Bejlek
Blinkova
4pm
Errani
Wozniacki
4pm
Montgomery
Avanesyan
4.30pm
Klein
Llamas Ruiz
4.30pm
Burel
Danilovic
5pm
Moutet
Shang
5.30pm
Diaz Acosta
Shapovalov
6pm
Andreeva
Townsend
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Liverpool33228375324374
3Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle321551269521750
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd32155124748-150
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves33127144653-743
12Fulham34126165054-442
13Bournemouth33119134860-1242
14Crystal Palace3399154256-1436
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton33108153448-1430
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3337233188-5716


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!