Can a rampant Brighton side put a stop to Arsenal's perfect start to the season?

[infobox id="c5ce5f5a-ccb6-468f-9fce-bb4a330c372a" /][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brighton/2XrRecc3/"]Seagulls[/a] might be five points and four positions below the North Londoners, but they've only lost one game in the league this season and have scored five more goals than their opponents.[/p][h2]Brighton are the Premier League's top scorers[/h2][p]Indeed, Brighton are actually the team with the most goals scored in the Premier League in 26/27, with their 13 coming via wins over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/coventry/GOvB22xg/"]Coventry[/a] (5-0) and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Aston Villa[/a] (4-0), a draw against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/leeds/tUxUbLR2/"]Leeds[/a] (1-1), and a 4-3 loss at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/"]Chelsea[/a].[/p][p]Perhaps their best performance was actually saved for the midweek Carabao Cup win against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-united/ppjDR086/"]Manchester United[/a].[/p][embed guid="5e525723-5877-42d1-950a-1a3e27886e43" url="https://x.com/BHAFC/status/2100495219527733379" social-type="twitter" /][p]After going 2-0 down at Old Trafford, the Seagulls came back to win 3-2; the first time that's happened to a Red Devils side at the Theatre of Dreams since 1984.[/p][p]Fabian Hurzeler's side would be well advised not to go too gung-ho against Mikel Arteta's well-drilled outfit, however, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] have already flexed their muscles this season and they clearly have the desire to win everything once again.[/p][h2]Can Arsenal make it five wins out of five to start the season?[/h2][p]The Gunners will be looking to win their opening five games in a season for just the third time in their history, after doing so in the 2004/05 and 2022/23 campaigns.[/p][p]On those two occasions, Arsenal didn't end up going on to win the league title, though it's clear that Arteta pays little attention to omens and the like.[/p][p]The Spaniard is also unlikely to be moved by the fact that more history will be made with a win, as it would be their eighth in all competitions, which would equal their best-ever start to a season (1903/04 - 123 years ago).[/p][image alt="Current Premier League table" id="21879a7a-f538-4c3c-beb6-907640b31dd7" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="dc80a875-b384-47da-ac9b-e39d33c9032c" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]It's also worth mentioning that Brighton have been on the receiving end of late against the North Londoners. [/p][p]In their last seven meetings, Arsenal are unbeaten, and they did the double over their opponents last season, beating them 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in late December, and 1-0 at the AMEX Stadium in March.[/p][h2]AMEX is a happy hunting ground for the Gunners[/h2][p]Brighton were defeated by the North Londoners in the Carabao Cup last season, too, and have only beaten them once in all competitions since the Qatar World Cup in December 2022.[/p][p]The AMEX is therefore very much a happy hunting ground for Arsenal. [/p][image alt="Brighton v Arsenal - Recent head-to-head results" id="7981a432-121e-4b8d-8ba9-f8bb2449800e" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="3ae3d9b3-5fcb-44a4-ae8b-507a50f0b424" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]Although they were defeated in two of their first three league visits there, not since June 2020, during COVID, have the Seagulls beaten the Gunners at home (L4, D2), putting into further context the difficulty that Hurzeler's squad will have on Saturday.[/p][p]What's also interesting with this particular fixture is that only two out of the last 10 Premier League meetings have been won by the home side (three draws, five away wins). Not since the 2017/18 campaign have both league matches been won by the team playing at home.[/p][p]The Seagulls have won two of their last five home games in the league against the team starting the day top of the table (D1 L2), albeit on both of those occasions ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Man City[/a] in May 2021, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Liverpool[/a] in May 2025), their opponents had already secured that season's Premier League title.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/arsenal-hA1Zm19f/brighton-2XrRecc3/?mid=j52jHsN8"]Follow Brighton v Arsenal with Flashscore![/a][/b][/p][h2]Control the priority for Arteta[/h2][p]One fact that may have escaped many football watchers about Arsenal this season is that, excluding penalties, they've not scored from a set-piece, something that they were lambasted and lauded for in equal measure in 2025/26.[/p][embed guid="a03bf630-c9f6-417b-a5e7-07d2f36b6948" url="https://x.com/Arsenal/status/2100631023461834853" social-type="twitter" /][p]Furthermore, they're 19th out of the 20 teams in the top flight for the number of dribbles attempted in 26/27 (43), and are rock bottom when it comes to completing them (17 successes).[/p][p]That would suggest that Arteta, perhaps more than ever before, is prioritising possession and control of the ball above all else, and if Brighton can't get hold of it, they'll not win the game. Simple but effective if it works for the Gunners.[/p][h2]Best pass completion[/h2][p]An 81.2% completion rate for passes in the final third of the pitch shows that Arsenal are being much more economical with their attacks, and that's likely to pose problems for a Seagulls side that like to get forward themselves at every opportunity.[/p][p]Hurzeler's patched-up outfit might well struggle to do that in any event, if he doesn't get any of his injured players back.[/p][image alt="Brighton v Arsenal - Win probability" id="220feb34-0da0-43bc-9926-a65153a64eb2" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="c28fbfa2-4c24-40bf-ae02-9d4e4b635d73" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]At present, all of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ferguson-evan/Wj4mo0Wm/"]Evan Ferguson[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/yohanna-zadok/fRaHGqXN/"]Zadok Yohanna[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/svoboda-michael/d6gJghfB/"]Michael Svoboda[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/azeez-femi/d6gBWKm0/"]Femi Azeez[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wieffer-mats/0vAgcUq8/"]Mats Wieffer[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kaoru-mitoma/faIBBRXl/"]Kaoru Mitoma[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/minteh-yankuba/0Kp8MqA5/"]Yankuba Minteh[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tzimas-stefanos/xn1K9Ep6/"]Stefanos Tzimas[/a] are out, with a late fitness test for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hinshelwood-jack/0IBtygvF/"]Jack Hinshelwood[/a] to determine his availability.[/p][p]Only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hadjam-jaouen/WOYIq4cD/"]Jaouen[/a] Hadjam from those players who have been out is confirmed as being fit to play in this one.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/saliba-william/EgIM3sB7/"]William Saliba[/a] is still definitely out for the visitors, but Arteta could welcome back [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hincapie-pedro/2TTElOLP/"]Piero Hincapie[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/white-ben/pvGdJANj/"]Ben White[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mosquera-cristhian/4O15XViB/"]Cristhian Mosquera[/a], all of whom face late fitness tests.[/p][infobox id="8a8311c3-81b3-440e-8b49-36091db073d1" /]