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Two of the four Premier League sides with perfect records thus far will face off in the early kick-off on Saturday. Arsenal are firm favourites to go into the international break with maximum points.
Arsenal rode their luck against Aston Villa on Saturday as Ollie Watkins missed two chances that he would typically convert.
The Gunners showcased their quality and title credentials by capitalising on that fortune, with Leandro Trossard giving them the lead within a few minutes of being introduced by Mikel Arteta.
Thomas Partey, whose place in the starting lineup may come under threat from new addition Mikel Merino, added a second to make it back-to-back 2-0 victories for Arsenal to begin the campaign.
Trossard’s instant impact at Villa Park may convince Arteta to deploy the Belgian from the left of the front three at the expense of Gabriel Martinelli.
Fabian Hürzeler couldn’t have asked for a much better start to life at Brighton & Hove Albion. They cut Everton to ribbons on the opening weekend before defeating Manchester United courtesy of a stoppage-time Joao Pedro header.
The Seagulls also beat Crawley Town 4-0 in the EFL Cup on Tuesday but that triumph was marred by an injury to Matt O'Riley, who joined from Celtic for £25m just one day prior.
Former Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck has scored in each of Brighton’s league outings, while Kaoru Mitoma has also come out of the blocks fast, with two goal involvements to his name.
Arsenal have not had things all their own way with Brighton since the south coast outfit were promoted to the top flight in 2017.
The Seagulls had the better of the head-to-head in the Premier League before last term, when 2-0 and 3-0 wins for Arteta’s side helped keep them in the title race until the final day.
In 2022-23, a 3-0 victory for Brighton at the Emirates Stadium all but ended the Gunners’ title hopes. That was the third win in as many visits to Arsenal for Albion, whose away form deserted them under Roberto De Zerbi last season.
Arsenal’s relentless streak shows no sign of slowing down, but Brighton will be encouraged by the chances the Gunners gave up at Aston Villa.
The Seagulls failed to score in either of the two encounters between the sides in 2023-24 and are one of many teams to have been shut out by the north Londoners as of late.
The Gunners are a very short price in the match odds but by selecting a couple of player props that each have a strong hit rate, we can create a bet builder with appealing odds. The best bet for this match is for Arsenal to win, James Milner to commit a foul, and Martin Odegaard to have a shot.
At this early stage of the season, predicting how games will unfold can be challenging, especially when one of the teams has a new manager.
Brighton’s high line has been a feature of their play under Hürzeler. They have caught their opposition offside a total of 13 times across the first two league fixtures. Against another opponent, total offsides may have offered an angle in, but Arsenal have only been caught offside once thus far and I would rather wait for a larger sample size anyway.
What won’t change from one season to another, though, is Odegaard’s desire to get shots off. The Norwegian has registered an effort on goal in each of his last 13 Gunners appearances.
Milner’s run of fouls doesn’t stretch back as far, but the 38-year-old has been deployed in a defensive midfield role this season and has been penalised in each appearance. The Seagulls will need to upset Arsenal’s rhythm in midfield, and the ex-Liverpool man won’t be afraid to make fouls when necessary. On its own, this selection has the longest price of the three selections in this bet builder.
Those props alone still leave us with a very short price, so I’m happy to throw the Arsenal win in there to get us above the 2.00 mark. They have had the full week to prepare for this and don’t have too many injury concerns, so I’d be surprised if their first slip-up came this early.
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