Overview
Arsenal overcame Wolves on the opening day of the Premier League before beating Aston Villa thanks to goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey in the next round.
Another win over Brighton would see Arsenal win their opening three Premier League games for the second time under Mikel Arteta. Overall, the Gunners have won each of their last eight league games since a 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa in April.
Arteta knows that Arsenal must be near perfect again to topple or even catch Man City, the four-time Premier League champions, so three points against Brighton will be a huge psychological boost for the Emirates team.
However, Arsenal have not won nine consecutive Premier League games since the start of 2004. That was also the campaign they won unbeaten under Arsene Wenger.
Arsenal have not won the league since that season, but Arteta’s side are clearly on course to topple Man City thanks to the presence of world-class talent.
One of them is Bukayo Saka, who has been involved in 17 goals in his last 19 Premier League appearances (12 goals, 5 assists). This includes 1 goal and 2 assists in the first 2 matches of the 2024-2025 season.
Saka will be aiming to become the first Arsenal player since Thierry Henry in 2004-05 to provide assists in each of his opening three league games.
On the other side of the front line, Brighton have had a promising start under new young head coach Fabian Hurzeler. The "Seagulls" have also strengthened their squad with the recruitment of Ferdi Kadioglu and Matt O'Riley this week.
Having beaten Everton in their opening game, Brighton followed that up with a last-gasp 2-1 win over Manchester United in the previous round. Veteran striker Danny Welbeck has scored in 15 consecutive Premier League seasons, taking his tally to 100 in the competition in the win over United.
Hurzeler will be aiming to become the first Brighton manager to win his opening three league games. Only Alan Mullery (August 1976), Jeff Wood (January 1999) and Micky Adams (April 1999) have previously won their first two games, but none of them have managed to make it three in a row.
Head to head record
Last season, Arsenal recorded a double win over Brighton, beating them 2-0 at the Emirates thanks to goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz.
The Gunners have won three of their last four Premier League games against Brighton (L1). However, Brighton have won three of their last seven Premier League away games against Arsenal.
Score prediction
With all their advantages, Arsenal are rated with a 66.5% chance of winning, compared to Brighton's 15.6%. Meanwhile, the possibility of the two teams sharing points is 17.9%.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Brighton
The match between Arsenal and Brighton takes place at 6:30 p.m. on August 31 (Vietnam time).
