TWO of the English Premier League form teams meet in a Saturday night crunch on the south coast when Brighton entertain Arsenal.
The Gunners have recovered from a nightmare start to the season to bounce back impressively, crowned with a hugely satisfying victory over North London rivals Spurs last week.
They are going for five wins in a row in all competitions, have only conceded one goal during that spell and morale must be on a high after a great run from Mikel Arteta's men.
But they face a Brighton side who must also be in a good place, despite missing an unlikely chance to top the table on Monday when they were held to a draw in London by rivals Crystal Palace.
Arsenal's only real downer was the news that Granit Xhaka is out for three months with knee ligament damage suffered in last weekend's 3-1 win.
The hosts will be without Adam Webster and Steven Alzate, with Yves Bissouma, Enock Mwepu and former Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck also all expected to miss out on Saturday night.
How the bookies view it
Arsenal are favourites at 18/11 with SBK with Graham Potter's side 21/10 outsiders with bet365. The draw is 12/5 with Betfred.
Recent head to heads
Arsenal won both meetings last season. They won 2-0 at the Emirates and 1-0 at the Amex as seen below.
However, the previous season, Brighton did the double over the Gunners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKIykqQChPk
Players to watch
French striker Neal Maupay has been in excellent form for the Seagulls this season with four goals in six appearances for Brighton. He also takes their spot kicks so he will have plenty of admirers at 12/5 with Betway.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came up with the goods as a player to score anytime bet here last week and he could trouble the home defence here. He's 18/13 to score on the south coast at the weekend.
Anything else catch the eye?
Arsenal look like they have plenty of confidence and are a fair price to win here. Although Brighton are near the top of the table, they've had as easy as it gets group of opening fixtures with the exception of Leicester City and Everton and they lost at home to the Goodison Park side.
In contrast, Arsenal have already had to play Chelsea, Manchester City and Spurs and they comfortable won the latter game.
But Brighton have scored in every game except that defeat to Everton and should manage to score against Arteta's side.
As well as an Arsenal win, the 4/1 for both teams to score and an away win looks outstanding value and should het a run for its money
This English Premier League match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Arsenal will be played on Oct 2, 2021 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Brighton and Hove Albion vs Arsenal prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
