Albion v Arsenal
PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: The American Express Community Stadium
Date: Saturday 2nd October 2021
Kick-off: 17:30 BST
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Assistants: Marc Perry, Timothy Wood
Fourth Official: John Brooks
VAR: Chris Kavanagh
Additional VAR: James Mainwaring
TEAM NEWS
Brighton will continue to monitor key midfielder Yves Bissouma, who has sat out two games with a knee problem.
Danny Welbeck and Steven Alzate are unavailable after being forced off at Crystal Palace, while Enock Mwepu and Adam Webster remain sidelined.
Arsenal's only absentee is midfielder Granit Xhaka, who will be missing for three months after suffering a knee ligament injury last weekend.
Albert Sambi Lokonga may replace Xhaka in the Gunners' starting line-up.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
[*=left]Arsenal won both of last season's encounters but overall have only claimed three victories in eight Premier League matches against Brighton (D2, L3).
[*=left]They are vying to win back-to-back league games away to Brighton for the first time since April 1981.
[*=left]The only previous top-flight meeting which took place with Albion higher in the table was a goalless draw at Highbury in January 1982.
[*=left]Brighton's 2-0 defeat by Everton in August is their only loss in eight home league games.
[*=left]Albion have earned five wins during this run, as many victories as in their previous 29 top-flight matches at the Amex Stadium.
[*=left]Their tally of seven clean sheets in Premier League home matches this calendar year is exceeded only by Manchester City and Chelsea, who each have nine.
[*=left]The Seagulls have conceded 24 top-flight penalties since promotion in 2017 - the only sides penalised more often during this period are Tottenham and Leicester, with 26 and 25 respectively.
[*=left]Graham Potter's side have faced just 16 shots on target in this season's Premier League - only Manchester City have fared better.
[*=left]Neil Maupay has scored with 44.4% of his shots in the top flight this season (four of nine, excluding blocked efforts), the highest rate of any player with more than five attempts in the current campaign.
[*=left]Maupay scored the winner in his two previous Premier League starts against Arsenal.
[*=left]The Gunners are the fourth side to lose their opening three top-flight games before winning the next three, emulating Aston Villa in 1982, Wimbledon in 1996 and West Brom in 2002.
[*=left]Arsenal have won nine of their past 15 top-flight away matches (D2, L4) - only Manchester City and Liverpool have better records over the same period, earning 13 and 10 victories respectively.
[*=left]Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored five goals in his last five league and cup games, more than in his previous 17 appearances for the Gunners.
[*=left]Aubameyang netted in each of his first three top-flight matches versus Brighton but has failed to score in his subsequent four outings against them.
Graham Potter's Arsenal Press Conference
