This weekend sees an eye-catching clash in the Premier League: Arsenal take on Brighton.
Arsenal sat at home to meet Brighton's challenge today, and from the pre-match confidence situation, compared to expectations, compared to expectations, after all, in the past few seasons of confrontation, Arsenal has not shown a clear advantage, and has lost to Brighton at home for three consecutive times, becoming the most feared opponent except Manchester City.
There are two possible reasons for this phenomenon, first of all, Brighton's squad is not optimistic, their current injury list includes seven players, unfortunately including Estupiñan, Fati, Mahi, Webster and other key players, in the context of the two-front battle, the original limited competitiveness of Brighton is undoubtedly even more stretched.
Then there's fitness, as they have just beaten Marseille in the group stage of the Europa League and have only two days to recuperate, making it clear that they are struggling to get back to their best, while Arsenal have a clear fitness advantage against PSV Eindhoven in rotation four days ago.
As a result, Brighton's current defensive concerns are likely to be even more prominent, with particular note that they have yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League this season, and have even conceded in their last four games, even against Burnley.
The pressure on them is even greater from the counter-attack, and so far this season, Brighton have scored four goals from the back, the most in the Premier League, after all, this team maintains the highest possession rate in the Premier League, far more than Arsenal and Manchester City, and will inevitably be caught by opponents in the case of defensive instability.
However, it is worth noting that Arsenal have scored just one goal on the counter-attack this season, which is clearly not their main attacking tool, and Arsenal could be the side on the counter-attack today.
Because there is actually a difference between Arsenal and Brighton's passing and possession styles, Brighton are more focused on possession, they are happy to keep the ball firmly at their feet and wait for their opponents to press, while Arsenal happen to prefer to attack quickly after gaining possession, and they have the most pressing in the Premier League this season.
Therefore, in today's game, we may frequently see Brighton advancing with the ball and Arsenal actively pressing, especially after two consecutive winless games, Arsenal who are back at home are more inclined to take the initiative to attack the strategy, which will further expand the space they leave for Brighton behind.
Brighton's attacking group is strong, their attacking combination of speed and penetration, their chemistry and their ability to change positions to make it difficult for opponents to defend even against Manchester City, and excellent passers such as Adingra and Gross have been key to keeping the scoring back sheet in 32 consecutive Premier League games.
In addition, Welbeck has also returned from injury and could be a surprise player on the bench against his former club Arsenal, who was the most dangerous passing threat in the squad in Brighton's 3-0 win over Arsenal last time out.
Historically, these two teams have always been on the side with a relatively weak home advantage, and this pattern has continued for many seasons, and it is clear that it is not just an accident, but also the influence of tactical factors, although Brighton have suffered slightly in terms of fitness and squad, but based on the above, the country believes that it will not be easy for Arsenal to gain an advantage at home, Brighton's away game is expected, even if Arsenal play well, they can only score one more.