Arsenal predicted line-up vs. Brighton: four major changes made as £150m duo return to starting XI

Arsenal will be hoping to keep pace with Premier League leaders Liverpool when they travel to face Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend. The Gunners are currently second in the table, two points adrift of Jurgen Klopp’s side, with eight games left to play.

Last time out, Mikel Arteta’s men comfortably brushed aside Luton Town, beating the Hatters 2-0 at the Emirates on Wednesday night. That result followed on from a tepid 0-0 stalemate against defending champions Manchester City on Easter Sunday.

For their part, Brighton are still in the running to qualify for European football again next season, and currently lie ninth in the table with 43 points to their name. The Seagulls drew 0-0 with Brentford in midweek, and were beaten 2-1 by Liverpool last weekend.

But how will both sides line up at the Amex Stadium this weekend? We’ve taken a closer look at their respective team news, and predicted starting XIs, below...

Arsenal Team News

There have been times when Arsenal have been beset by injuries this season, but at the moment, they appear to be in relatively rude health. Long term absentee Jurrien Timber is still undergoing a process of rehabilitation from the ACL injury that has kept him sidelined since the opening weekend, but Arteta spoke with optimism about his return earlier this week. The Gunners boss said: 'He’s doing very well; he’s back training. He’s not far off, but the thing is that last step. He hasn’t played any minutes, so does he need a game with the U21s. I think he has a good chance [of playing again this season].'

Elsewhere, Bukayo Saka represents Arsenal’s only other injury doubt. The winger missed out on the win over Luton in midweek, but is expected to feature against Brighton. Following Wednesday’s victory, Arteta explained: 'He was close [to being involved], but he felt something similar again to City, and it was a very short turnaround. Hopefully, he will be able to train tomorrow and will be available for the weekend.'

Arsenal Predicted XI

David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Declan Rice, Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli.

Brighton Team News

Brighton are expected to be without a number of key first team players on Saturday afternoon. Solly March might not play again this season after suffering a serious knee injury, while Kaoru Mitoma and Billy Gilmour are both expected to be sidelined until May with back and knee complaints respectively.

Promising midfielder Jack Hinshelwood is also out, while no concrete return date has yet been set for veteran teammate James Milner. There is better news regarding Evan Ferguson, however, with the Irish striker pushing for a comeback from an ankle issue this weekend.

Brighton Predicted XI

Bart Verbruggen; Joel Veltman, Lewis Dunk, Jan Paul van Hecke, Igor Julio; Pascal Groß, Carlos Baleba; Facundo Buonanotte, Joao Pedro, Simon Adingra; Danny Welbeck.