Arsenal vs. Brighton: TV channel, kick-off time, live stream, referee, injury and team news

Premier League leaders Arsenal, fresh from their penalty shootout victory over Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarter-final, host Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.

With Manchester City playing before kick-off in this match, Arsenal’s slim two-point lead could have already evaporated by the time they take the field in London. Mikel Arteta’s side are in the middle of a busy December and will play the sixth of eight matches this month this weekend.

The festive season has tested the depth of Arsenal’s squad, with Arsenal potentially without seven players for this match. While Fabian Hurzeler could welcome back five players for this match, Brighton could still be without four of their squad, resulting in a four-match winless run.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s game.

How to watch:

The match will not be shown in the UK, but will be shown on NBC Sports in the US, JioHotstar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow live updates from ESPN.

Key details:

Kick-off time: Saturday, December 27 at 3 p.m. GMT (11 a.m. ET; 8:30 p.m. IST and 1 a.m. AEST, Sunday)

Place: Emirates Stadium, London

Arbitrator: John Brooks

VAR: Paul Tierney

Odds:

Injuries and team news:

Arsenal

Kai Havertz, F.: knee, DOUBTback to training
Piero Hincapié, D: shoulder, DOUBT
Gabriel Martinelli, F: hit, OUTestimated return at the end of December
Ben White, D: hamstring, OUTreturn scheduled for mid-January
Christian Mosquera, D: ankle, OUTreturn scheduled for mid-January
Gabriel Magalhães, D: muscle, OUTreturn scheduled for early January
Max Dowman, M: ankle, OUTEast. return at the beginning of February

Brighton and Hove Albion

Carlos Baleba, M:CAN, OUT
Mats Weiffer, D: hitting, DOUBT
Adam Webster, D: knee, OUTest.return at the beginning of January
Solly March, M: knee, OUTest.return at the beginning of January
Stefanos Tzimas, F:ACL, OUTreturn planned for early August 2026

Discussion points:

Arsenal’s finishing problems

Despite having ‘won’ all of their last three games, Arsenal have not scored a single goal from open play despite generating 5.89xG. Three of the last four goals scored by Arsenal have been via open goals, with Viktor Gyökeres the only player to score for Arteta’s side – from the penalty spot.

In some ways, this is still good news for Arsenal – xG always wins, and periods of underperforming or overperforming xG always end up reverting to the mean. Given that Arsenal’s xG conceded in these three games is a paltry 1.49, Arsenal are still producing winning performances.

Yet the margins in the Premier League are incredibly tight, and another xG underperformance could come back to bite Arsenal. Arteta needs his attackers to be much more effective, as Brighton have the firepower to produce a sting in the tail, as Palace did in injury time.

Returnees could end Brighton’s winless run

When Hurzeler oversaw Brighton’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in late November, his side were fifth in the table, three points behind second-placed Manchester City. In December, Brighton went four games without a win, slipping to ninth place, now thirteen points behind City and fifteen behind leaders Arsenal.

Hurzeler had to dig deep within his team during the 0-0 draw against Sunderland last week. Lewis Dunk and Diego Gómez have served their suspensions, while Danny Welbeck and Jan Paul van Hecke are expected to train and be available for this match. Hurzeler was also confident Mats Wieffer could feature, even if he faces a late fitness test.

Brighton have beaten Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle this season – with a majority of his squad fit again, Hurzeler has the chance to turn around what has been a miserable December so far.

Gabriel Jesus or Viktor Gyökeres? (or even Kai Havertz?)

The best (and worst) of Gabriel Jesus was on full display for Arsenal against Palace. Harmonizing beautifully with Gabriel Martinelli and Myles Lewis-Skelly as he swapped positions on the left, the fluidity of Arsenal’s attacking play was dazzling. It brought to mind Arsenal’s first title challenge under Arteta in the 2022/23 season, when Jesus was the lynchpin of a maverick Arsenal attack that tormented defenses.

At the same time, Jesus’ penchant for not being on the side of chances, while being wrong about the plethora of chances that occurred in his view, simply highlighted why critics have always highlighted the need for Arsenal to bring in a lethal striker to get them over the line in the title race.

Gyökeres was supposed to be that answer, but it is telling that just three days after scoring a confidence-boosting penalty, Arteta opted not to face it against Palace – even when Arsenal were chasing a late winner or for the penalties that ultimately followed. The manager’s lack of confidence in the Swede perhaps also extends to his teammates, who have avoided many of Gyokeres’ runs this season.

Kai Havertz has returned to training, and with the current Arsenal squad much more suited to his qualities, Gyokeres and Jesus could see their playing time reduced once the German regains his sharpness. However, against Brighton, it will most likely be Gyokeres leading Arsenal’s line, which could present more problems than solutions for Arsenal.

A week’s rest should help Hurzeler secure his first win against Arteta

Hurzeler hasn’t beaten Arteta in three attempts, but in many ways it’s a statistic that requires context. Arsenal’s 2-0 Carabao Cup victory earlier in the season came against a much-changed Brighton side, but two 1-1 draws last season indicated the German manager had Arteta’s number.

One of those games was the controversial game that saw Declan Rice sent off, but in both games Brighton generated more xG in total (3.28) than Arsenal (3.02). With a good number of their squad returning from injury, coupled with a full week’s rest during a busy December, Brighton should be the fresher team.

While Arsenal have the means to rotate their forward line and midfield, their defense will feature players playing their third game in a week. A new Welbeck or Georginio Rutter could cause plenty of problems with their tireless nature, and while Brighton could be missing AFCON participant Carlos Baleba in midfield, they have the potential to cause a real upset.

Should Arsenal plunge into the market in January?

Another game, another injury for Arsenal. Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Martinelli picked up a knock against Palace which ruled him out for this match, while Piero Hincapié is nursing a shoulder problem. The spate of injuries at centre-back has forced Arteta into fewer options in his back line, and with fewer rotation options, this only invites more injuries in a vicious cycle.

He also seems to be catching up in terms of fitness. Arsenal’s previously unbreakable defense have conceded four goals in injury time in recent times, resulting in a defeat against Aston Villa, a draw against Sunderland, as well as a potential draw against Wolves (which was ultimately won) and requiring penalties against Palace.

With four of their eight defenders injured, Arsenal could be forced to enter the January transfer market if any of their currently fit defenders were to be overplayed during a busy December/January period.