Premier League leaders Arsenal make the trip to Brighton in midweek action with the aim of keeping their five-point gap against Manchester City in place. Pep Guardiola's side are favourites to take all three points against Nottingham Forest at home, while makes Arsenal's time at the Amex on Wednesday evening all the more important.
Mikel Arteta's side come into this game on the back of two wins in London derbies against Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, although they were achieved in contrasting fashion. While Spurs were put to the sword in a 4-1 win, Arsenal needed set-pieces to defeat ten-man Chelsea at home en route a 2-1 win.
Brighton & Hove Albion, meanwhile, won two consecutive Premier League games for only the second time this season, following up their 2-0 win away to Brentford with a 2-1 win at home to Nottingham Forest on the weekend. Arsenal have only won three of their last seven visits to the Amex in the league (3-2-2 W-D-L), so Fabian Hurzeler will have plenty of hope for a positive result.
Here's everything you need to know about Wednesday's game.
How to watch:
The match will be shown on TNT Sports in the UK, NBC/Peacock in the U.S., JioHotstar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Wednesday, March 04 at 7:30 p.m. GMT (2:30 p.m. ET; 1 a.m. IST, Thursday and 5:30 a.m. AEST, Thursday).
Venue: Amex Stadium, Brighton.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
VAR: Michael Salisbury
Injury and Team News:
Brighton & Hove Albion:
Adam Webster, D: OUT, knee, est. return early April
Yasin Ayari, M: DOUBT, shoulder
Stefanos Tzimas, F: OUT, ACL, est. return August
Arsenal:
Max Dowman, M: OUT, ankle est. return early March
Mikel Merino, M: OUT, foot, est. return late May
Ben White, D: DOUBT, knock
Declan Rice, M: DOUBT, knock
Martin Ødegaard, M: DOUBT, knee
Talking Points:
Arsenal's nerves to be put to the test
One would expect a 2-1 victory over London rivals Chelsea that restored Arsenal's five-point gap atop the Premier League table to be met with glee, but the fan reaction to Mikel Arteta's side has been decidedly mixed.
Despite going down to ten men, Chelsea bossed the final moments of the game, with David Raya forced into a stunning save as well as fortunate refereeing decisions bailing Arsenal out. Arteta's side only managed 55 passes to Chelsea's 114 post Pedro Neto's sending off, with Arsenal reduced to hoofing the ball clear at every opportunity.
There was barely any composure to be seen from the Gunners, who looked as far away from champions-in-waiting as possible. Arteta's side were sorely lacking the calm captain Martin Ødegaard brings to the side, and if he misses out at Brighton, that could prove to be problematic. Brighton are opponents who've always caused Arsenal some awkward moments, and with Arteta's side knee-deep in a title race and constantly showing signs of panic, a poor result isn't far away.
Curiously enough, Brighton have never beaten Arsenal at home, with both their victories coming at the Emirates.
Hurzeler's midfield conundrum with record-setting Milner
Prior to winning their two most recent Premier League games, Brighton had only won a single game from 13 in the league. The six points have pushed Hurzeler's side to the relative safety of eleventh, with Brighton now closer to Liverpool in the table than West Ham United. A big part of the resurgence has been Hurzeler's tweaked midfield trio of James Milner, Jack Hinshelwood and Pascal Gross.
Milner, who made a record-extended 655th Premier League appearance in the win over Nottingham Forest, has formed an unlikely partnership with academy graduate Hinshelwood. Aged 40, Milner is twice as old as his midfield partner, but his positional nous dovetails perfectly with Hinshelwood's energy. Together with Gross, the trio have been the platform for Brighton's two consecutive wins in the league.
But Milner isn't getting any younger, and with a short turnaround to the game against Arsenal, Hurzeler might be forced into opting for the fresher legs of Carlos Baleba in midfield, especially against the likes of Declan Rice and co.
Brighton did field an unchanged XI for their two wins, and Hurzeler risks losing the momentum his side has built, as they chase three league wins in a row for the first time since the start of the season.
Arsenal's set-pieces to fire them to the title?
Two goals from corners were enough for Arsenal in their 2-1 win over Chelsea, with the club now equalling the Premier League record for goals scored from corners in a season (16). It is only a matter of time before Arsenal break the record with their seventeenth, and given Brighton have kept only one clean sheet in their last ten games, the record might come sooner than expected.
Gab Marcotti hopes the Premier League clamps down on "grabbing" from set-pieces after being bored by Arsenal's win over Chelsea.
Doubly so since Arsenal have improved their rate of scoring in away games, averaging 2.3 goals per away game in 2026, compared to 1.2 goals per away game since the season began in August until December.
Brighton themselves have scored only seven goals from set-pieces all season, compared to Arsenal's 19, with the hosts ranked 16th in the set-piece scoring charts. Opposition defences have not had much of an answer to Arsenal's set-piece prowess for multiple seasons now, and it could be Arteta's ace in the hole when it comes to wrestling a result out of a poor performance. As the games come thick and fast for Arsenal, this weapon could prove crucial in maintaining their Premier League lead, and potentially a much-coveted league title as well.
Can Danny Welbeck come back to haunt his former club?
Danny Welbeck has ten goals this season in the Premier League, repeating his best-ever tally from 2024-25. The 35-year-old could join Gary McAllister and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the only players aged 35+ to score 10+ goals in a PL season if he finds the net against Arsenal.
With manager Hurzeler saying Welbeck was in the 'best shape ever' there's certainly a chance the English striker could come back to haunt his former club. Welbeck's already done so to Manchester United, instrumental in dumping them out of the FA Cup, and should he find the net against former teammate Arteta's side, he'd be doing a fair bit of damage to Arsenal's title chances.
Never truly prolific, Welbeck has the habit of scoring important goals, and his combination of pace, power and technique can cause Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba and co. plenty of problems.
How will Arteta rotate?
With a trip to Mansfield up next in the FA Cup, Arteta might be tempted to wait it out to rotate his side. However, Arteta named an unchanged starting XI in two energy-sapping London derbies and his players were running on fumes by the end against ten-man Chelsea.
Declan Rice was seen hobbling off, and with an able deputy in Christian Norgaard, Arteta ought to not risk his midfield lynchpin. The likes of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke, Cristhian Mosquera and more are waiting in the wings, which is plenty of quality for Arteta to call upon in a bid to beat Brighton.
The risk of playing an unchanged XI also extends to his side being leggy in open play, as well as opening up his players to further injuries ahead of a crucial run-in as Arsenal chase all four trophies.