A tough and tricky fixture for Arsenal.

Morning all.

I was talking to a Man Utd fan yesterday, one of the nicest ones I’ve ever met I hasten to add. We had a bit of a laugh at each other’s expense about our respective clubs before he said something along the lines of “if Arsenal had a top-notch striker, they would have been League winners last season and in all likelihood, would be again in May.” As a fan of a rival club, he’s envious of our defence, midfield and wingers but he doesn’t understand why we have no striker, or “Arrowhead” as he calls it.

I know few of us give a toot about what fans of other clubs think but I sat there agreeing with everything he said. How can a manager/club who has otherwise assembled such a good squad, not signed an out and out striker for the team during the five years he’s been Arsenal manager?

The topic came up again during Mikel Arteta’s pre match press conference when he was asked whether it’s simplistic to say we have to sign a striker this month to win the league:

I don’t know, it can be a perception, it can be a reality. Signing someone is not enough, that’s for sure because that signing then has to score how many goals? A lot of things have to happen. Sign and then I score 20 goals from here until the end and then you have a better chance? Maybe, yes. I don’t know!  But I’m very happy with the players that we have. If you look at the amount of goals that we score as well, it’s more than enough to win a Premier League, and our other numbers as well. But the reality is if somebody doing more, that’s life so we have to be better.

The striker debate will rumble on and on, probably until we as a club finally sign one.

Anyway, for the first time in a while, Mikel Arteta and his players have ventured outside of London for tonight’s fixture against Brighton. The two clubs met earlier in the season at The Emirates with the final score being 1-1. Mikel Arteta’s team had gone ahead through Kai Havertz. After the break, referee Chris Kavanagh decided to ruin the game by sending off Declan Rice for allegedly denying Brighton the opportunity to take a quick free kick. The decision was bonkers. Brighton took advantage of playing with an extra man, two if you count Kavanagh, and soon equalised. Havertz had a great chance to secure all three points but it wasn’t to be. As it turned out, this incident, or rather the way it was dealt with, was the first of three red cards which were harsh. Very harsh!

Brighton will be a tough opponent, we know that and with Jurrien Timber suspended, our right-hand side will not be as strong. Talking of which, Ben White’s recovery is going well and could be back soon. Takehiro Tomiyasu and Raheem Sterling are recovering well too.

Raheem’s starting to do some stuff on the pitch so that’s great news. As quickly as possible we want him available. Let’s see how he progresses this week and then see if we can go for the following week. Tomi has done some stuff on the pitch but now because it’s been a long-term injury we need to see how quickly he can progress and how he reacts.

When they come back, I hope they can stay back.

Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke on what to expect this evening:

Brighton are a vibrant, well-coached team blessed with lots of exciting young players, so we can expect a physical, competitive contest. They are not as fixated on possession than under previous head coaches, with Hurzeler keener on getting the ball forward a little quicker. Joao Pedro is an outstanding talent. His movement, skill in tight spaces, and ice-cool finishing mark him down as a major threat, while Kaoru Mitoma’s pace and dribbling down the left will be a serious test for whoever stands in for the suspended Jurrien Timber.

When Brighton get the ball wide, it’s going to be important for us to defend the box properly. They will throw four or five men into the danger zone looking to get on the end of crosses. That positive style is a great strength, but sometimes it can be a weakness too. Only three sides have faced more shots from fast breaks than the Seagulls, who have conceded four times from counter-attacks.

The formation could look like a 4-4-2 but in reality, it will be more of a 4-2-3-1. Hurzeler’s side press well, ranking third for the most pressures, so we must be wary of turnovers, but this attacking style of play will allow us more space than we’ve had of late going forward. With just one clean sheet in their last 11 games, I do fancy us to score goals.

Hurzeler will be without Danny Welbeck, Evan Ferguson, Adam Hinshelwood, James Milner and Ferdi Kadioglu tonight.

With Jurrien Timber out, I do hope it’s not Thomas Partey who drops into right-back, not because he’s rubbish in that position but because he’s been so good in midfield. I don’t think our midfield is as good when he’s not in it. Sadly though, I’m not sure Mikel Arteta has many, if any other options available to him.

Anyway, I’m sure Mikel Arteta has a cunning plan up his sleeve…

Catch up in the comments…