The Seagulls might be five points and four positions below the North Londoners, but they've only lost one game in the league this season and have scored five more goals than their opponents.
Brighton are the Premier League's top scorers
Indeed, Brighton are actually the team with the most goals scored in the Premier League in 26/27, with their 13 coming via wins over Coventry (5-0) and Aston Villa (4-0), a draw against Leeds (1-1), and a 4-3 loss at Chelsea.
Perhaps their best performance was actually saved for the midweek Carabao Cup win against Manchester United.
After going 2-0 down at Old Trafford, the Seagulls came back to win 3-2; the first time that's happened to a Red Devils side at the Theatre of Dreams since 1984.
Fabian Hurzeler's side would be well advised not to go too gung-ho against Mikel Arteta's well-drilled outfit, however, as Arsenal have already flexed their muscles this season and they clearly have the desire to win everything once again.
Can Arsenal make it five wins out of five to start the season?
The Gunners will be looking to win their opening five games in a season for just the third time in their history, after doing so in the 2004/05 and 2022/23 campaigns.
On those two occasions, Arsenal didn't end up going on to win the league title, though it's clear that Arteta pays little attention to omens and the like.
The Spaniard is also unlikely to be moved by the fact that more history will be made with a win, as it would be their eighth in all competitions, which would equal their best-ever start to a season (1903/04 - 123 years ago).
It's also worth mentioning that Brighton have been on the receiving end of late against the North Londoners.
In their last seven meetings, Arsenal are unbeaten, and they did the double over their opponents last season, beating them 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in late December, and 1-0 at the AMEX Stadium in March.
AMEX is a happy hunting ground for the Gunners
Brighton were defeated by the North Londoners in the Carabao Cup last season, too, and have only beaten them once in all competitions since the Qatar World Cup in December 2022.
The AMEX is therefore very much a happy hunting ground for Arsenal.
Although they were defeated in two of their first three league visits there, not since June 2020, during COVID, have the Seagulls beaten the Gunners at home (L4, D2), putting into further context the difficulty that Hurzeler's squad will have on Saturday.
What's also interesting with this particular fixture is that only two out of the last 10 Premier League meetings have been won by the home side (three draws, five away wins). Not since the 2017/18 campaign have both league matches been won by the team playing at home.
The Seagulls have won two of their last five home games in the league against the team starting the day top of the table (D1 L2), albeit on both of those occasions (Man City in May 2021, Liverpool in May 2025), their opponents had already secured that season's Premier League title.
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Control the priority for Arteta
One fact that may have escaped many football watchers about Arsenal this season is that, excluding penalties, they've not scored from a set-piece, something that they were lambasted and lauded for in equal measure in 2025/26.
Furthermore, they're 19th out of the 20 teams in the top flight for the number of dribbles attempted in 26/27 (43), and are rock bottom when it comes to completing them (17 successes).
That would suggest that Arteta, perhaps more than ever before, is prioritising possession and control of the ball above all else, and if Brighton can't get hold of it, they'll not win the game. Simple but effective if it works for the Gunners.
Best pass completion
An 81.2% completion rate for passes in the final third of the pitch shows that Arsenal are being much more economical with their attacks, and that's likely to pose problems for a Seagulls side that like to get forward themselves at every opportunity.
Hurzeler's patched-up outfit might well struggle to do that in any event, if he doesn't get any of his injured players back.
At present, all of Evan Ferguson, Zadok Yohanna, Michael Svoboda, Femi Azeez, Mats Wieffer, Kaoru Mitoma, Yankuba Minteh and Stefanos Tzimas are out, with a late fitness test for Jack Hinshelwood to determine his availability.
Only Jaouen Hadjam from those players who have been out is confirmed as being fit to play in this one.
William Saliba is still definitely out for the visitors, but Arteta could welcome back Piero Hincapie, Ben White and Cristhian Mosquera, all of whom face late fitness tests.
Jason Pettigrove has been the features writer for Flashscore since 2025, utilising Opta data to form the basis of his articles. He has previously worked for high-profile football clubs, news and media outlets, both in print and digital, and can usually be found watching FC Barcelona when time permits. You can read more of his pieces here.
