Brighton’s midfield rocks offer stern test to Arsenal
ANOTHER Sunday, another win-orbust game for Arsenal as the title race goes down to the wire.
With three matches to go, the Gunners trail leaders Manchester City by one point and Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand.
Arsenal’s aim is to win their three remaining games, starting at home against Brighton on Sunday. After that, they travel to Nottingham Forest, before hosting Wolves on the final day.
The Gunners have to hope City slip up twice during their final four matches, against Everton, Chelsea, Brighton and Brentford.
Brighton play both Arsenal and City, meaning they will have a big say in where the title ends up. The Seagulls have enjoyed a brilliant season since Roberto De Zerbi replaced Graham Potter in September.
Even after Monday’s shock 5-1 defeat at home against Everton, they are seventh in the table and on course to qualify for Europe. Brighton have been a bogey team over the years for Arsenal, who have won just one of their last five home games against them.
Until Arsenal’s 4-2 win over them at the Amex Stadium on New Year’s Eve, Brighton were also just one of three teams that the Gunners had lost more Premier League games against than they had won.
Arteta is an admirer of De Zerbi and followed his progress at Shakhtar Donetsk and Sassuolo. The Spaniard has noted how De Zerbi is implementing a similar style at Brighton, with his side looking to lure teams into pressing them by building from the back. Brighton then flood forward, creating overloads with underlapping and overlapping runs that can leave defences overwhelmed.
It is a unique style, which basically has Brighton combining possession-based football with counter attacks.
Arteta will take heart from the victory over Brighton on New Year’s Eve, but that was against a Seagulls side lacking key midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo. The pair are vital to making De Zerbi’s plan work and he will be delighted they are available this weekend.
On Sunday, a key battle will be in midfield, an area where Arsenal have been struggling of late. The control that was a theme of their fine form at the start of the season had disappeared, with Arteta opting to drop Thomas Partey.
Jorginho has started the last two games and should keep his place, particularly after his man-of-the-match performance at Newcastle.
Long term, though, Arsenal are looking to bolster their midfield and Sunday’s game has the intriguing subplot of the Gunners being admirers of Caicedo and Mac Allister.
They failed with two bids for Caicedo (left) in January, the second of which was £70million, and he remains on their radar ahead of this summer’s transfer window.
Mac Allister has been scouted by the Gunners and several other Premier League clubs, with Liverpool leading the race for him. Arsenal’s No1 midfield target is West Ham’s Declan Rice, but they are eyeing further reinforcements.
Arteta will see first hand on Sunday what Caicedo and Mac Allister bring. Caicedo is one of the most destructive midfielders in the League and only Fulham’s Joao Palhinha has made more tackles this season.
Mac Allister, meanwhile, has elevated his game since helping Argentina win the World Cup and this is the first season of his career he has hit double figures for goals.
Arsenal’s midfield looked back to its best at Newcastle, with Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard excelling alongside Jorginho. Odegaard has scored three goals in his last two games, while Xhaka has sacrificed getting forward to help out Arsenal’s defence.
The trio have helped get Arsenal’s title charge back on track. Brighton, however, have the tools to knock them off course again.