Preview: Arsenal vs Brighton & Hove Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

Arsenal will welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday in another festive season fixture in the Premier League.

The Gunners are top of the league yet again on Christmas day as they have done in two of the last four seasons, and are looking to continue their fine home form this season against the Seagulls.

Match preview

Mikel Arteta is still chasing his first Premier League title as Arsenal manager since taking charge in December 2019, despite overseeing a transformation that has established the club as one of the strongest sides in world football in terms of results, squad depth, quality, and overall perception.

Arsenal head into the festive programme sitting top of the Premier League table after reclaiming first place with a narrow 1–0 away victory over Everton on December 20, 2025, with Viktor Gyokeres converting the decisive penalty to move Arteta’s side back above Manchester City.

This campaign represents the fifth time Arsenal have led the Premier League on Christmas Day, although on each of the previous four occasions, they failed to go on and lift the trophy, most notably being overtaken by Manchester United in 2002–03 and again slipping to third in 2007–08.

Under Arteta, it is the third time the Gunners have topped the table at Christmas, having also done so in 2022–23 and the following season before being overhauled by Manchester City, who are once again their closest challengers this term, sitting two points adrift.

Despite dealing with multiple injuries, the 13-time English champions have been outstanding this season, winning 12 of their 17 league matches, remaining unbeaten at home, and dropping points in just one of their eight Premier League fixtures at the Emirates — a 1–1 draw with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in September — while scoring 25 goals and conceding only six.

Arsenal’s Premier League home record against Brighton is less dominant than against most opponents, with just three wins from eight meetings at the Emirates, a lower win rate than against any side they have faced at least five times except Wimbledon and Liverpool.

All three of Arsenal’s home league victories over Brighton have ended 2–0, achieved in October 2017, May 2021, and December 2023, and the Gunners have also won each of their last five Premier League home matches, a run surpassed only once under Arteta when they won 10 in succession between April and December 2022.

The North Londoners are unbeaten in their last four Premier League meetings with Brighton, recording two wins and two draws, including back-to-back 1–1 results in the 2024–25 season, with Kai Havertz scoring late in the first half of the first meeting before a controversial red card for Declan Rice allowed Joao Pedro to equalise, while the reverse fixture at the Amex Stadium early in the new year again saw Pedro rescue a point for the Seagulls.

© Imago / Focus Images

Brighton head into this fixture positioned in mid-table and enjoying a season of relative stability under Fabian Hurzeler, showing flashes of quality without the consistency needed to mount a sustained challenge against the Premier League’s top sides.

Hurzeler’s side are winless in their last four league matches, their longest run without a victory since a five-game spell between March and April last season, although they have suffered just two defeats in their last eight outings and are approaching a month without a win.

In their most recent match, Brighton were held to a goalless draw by promoted Sunderland at the Amex Stadium, a result that means no Premier League side has recorded more 0–0 draws than the Seagulls since their promotion in 2017.

That stalemate marked the 12th time in 17 league games this season that Brighton have failed to score before half-time, the worst record in the division, though despite failing to score in their last two matches they have not gone three league games without a goal since January 2024 and have taken points on every occasion they have scored at the Emirates Stadium, winning three and drawing two.

Brighton’s attacking struggles have been evident throughout the campaign, with the Seagulls scoring more than twice in a match on only three occasions and finding the net just once across their last three Premier League outings.

In their most recent outing, a goalless draw against Sunderland, Brighton fielded the youngest starting XI of any Premier League match this season, with an average age of 23 years and 240 days under the league’s youngest manager in Hurzeler, who was aged 32 years and 297 days on December 20, while also using the oldest player to feature in the 2025–26 campaign, as 39-year-old James Milner came off the bench at 39 years and 350 days.

Arsenal Premier League form:

Arsenal form (all competitions):

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

Team News

© Imago / Sportimage

Mikel Arteta is expected to rotate his squad with only a three-day turnaround following Tuesday’s Carabao Cup victory over Crystal Palace, a match in which Arsenal made eight changes from the side that edged Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium last weekend.

Piero Hincapie missed the midweek cup tie after picking up an injury against Everton, but the Ecuador international could return this weekend, while Gabriel Martinelli, arguably Arsenal’s standout performer in the first half against Palace was forced off with a knock shortly before the interval and replaced early in the second half by Leandro Trossard.

Goalkeeper David Raya is set to return between the posts and is poised to make his 150th Premier League appearance for Arsenal, having kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the division since his top-flight debut with Brentford in August 2021.

Arteta is also expected to recall Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice, and Martin Odegaard to the midfield, with Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres likely to start as the Arsenal manager continues to carefully manage his resources during a season heavily disrupted by injuries to key personnel.

Arsenal will, however, be without Gabriel Magalhaes, Cristhian Mosquera, Ben White, Kai Havertz, and teenage sensation Max Dowman, while Hincapie remains a fitness doubt ahead of the weekend.

For Brighton, Hurzeler is hopeful of welcoming Danny Welbeck and Jan Paul van Hecke back into contention after both missed the goalless draw with Sunderland, while Lewis Dunk and Diego Gomez return from suspension and Mats Wieffer will be assessed closer to kick-off.

Despite those potential boosts, Brighton remain short-handed, with long-term ACL injuries sidelining Stefanos Tzimas and Adam Webster, Solly March still working his way back to full fitness, and Carlos Baleba unavailable as he is away on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Cameroon.

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; Timber, Saliba, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly; Zubimendi, Declan Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Martinelli, Gyokeres

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Wieffer, Veltman, Dunk, Kadioglu; Ayari, Gomez, Gruda; Mitoma, Minteh, Rutter

We say: Arsenal 3-0 Brighton & Hove Albion

Despite a recent shortage of goals, Arsenal’s display against Crystal Palace on Tuesday underlined a side on an upward trajectory since their 2–1 defeat at Villa Park in the last few weeks.

If they are able to create chances at a similar rate to that Carabao Cup performance, the Gunners should have enough quality to overcome Brighton and maintain their push for the Premier League title.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.