Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal side will be looking to respond to defeat last time out to Crystal Palace when they face Brighton on Saturday afternoon. The Gunners know that three points will be crucial towards their campaign for a top four finish this season, with Champions League qualification on the line.
The Spaniard saw his side return to action on Monday, though they were slow to respond to the hard pressing of Palace. Goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta, Jordan Ayew and Wilfried Zaha condemned the side to a 3-0 defeat and saw them slump to fifth behind rivals Tottenham.
Arteta said the performance was “unacceptable” in his post-match press conference, telling the media: “We weren’t at the races, especially in the first half, we were late to every ball, we were soft in the duels and we didn’t earn the right to play. We were sloppy on the ball and we didn’t have any dominance, any sequences of play where we could take some control of the game and we conceded two poor goals [before half-time]. Overall it’s unacceptable. We put our hands up, apologise, regroup.”
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It puts the side in a tricky situation, level on points with Spurs with a game in hand, but a tough run of fixtures to come. Manchester United, Chelsea, West Ham and the North London derby are all still to come and present a mammoth task for the Gunners.
The run of games means that even more emphasis is placed on winning games against sides lower down in the table, taking advantage of the opportunity ahead of them. Saturday’s game with Brighton is one of those, with the Seagulls in 13th and without a win in their last five.
Arteta does have a selection dilemma, with Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney set to miss out through injury and a plethora of attacking options to choose from. One of those choices could be who starts on the left-wing, with Emile Smith Rowe starting the last game, but Gabriel Martinelli came from the bench in the second half.
In light of the selection issue, Arsenal may have dropped a potential hint at the line-up, with the official Twitter posting a pre-match hype graphic with the Brazilian as the main feature. It could suggest that he will play, though that hasn’t always been the case when such images have been posted in the past.
If he does start, Martinelli will be hoping to recapture some of his form from a few weeks ago, when he was scoring goals for fun. His inclusion could have a big say on whether Arsenal finish in the top four or not.
