- Wednesday at 7.30: Brighton v Arsenal. How the clubs are doing of late
- Top PL players: are Tottenham really the equal of Arsenal?
By Tony Attwood
Because Brighton spent much of their earlier history lurking in the lower reaches of the League (before the First World War they played in such competitions as Southern League 1, Southern League 2, Southern South Eastern, Western 1A, the United League, and the South Alliance).
But then after the first world war, they got elected into Division 3 and then Division 3 (South), where they dutifully remained (knowing their place in the great scheme of things) until 1958 when they were promoted to Division 2.
But disaster struck, and consecutive relegations saw Brighton drop to the 4th division, from which they then slowly zigzagged around until they made it to Division 1 in 1979. Indeed, as recently as 2010, they were reportedly seen mucking around in the third tier, but since 2017 they have been back at the top table.
Indeed, it is interesting that in earlier times several south coastal clubs that were traditionally at the foot of the pyramid have pushed their way up; clubs such as Brighton, Southampton, Portsmouth and most notably of late, Bournemouth. Although, to be fair, Portsmouth were a regular Division 1 side in the 1930s and won the last FA Cup before the Second World War.
Then in 2022/3 Brighton had their best season ever coming sixth in the Premier, followed by 11th and 8th in the last two seasons. As of today, they are 11th, although some 27 points, and 20 goals fewer scored and 13 more conceded than Arsenal, making their goal difference 33 worse than Arsenal’s.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 29 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 58 | 22 | 36 | 64 |
| 11 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 28 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 38 | 35 | 3 | 37 |
But given the valiant efforts of Tottenham Hots to find themselves a slot in the lower tier, there seems to be no worries about a return to the Championship. Although, as I noted in the last piece, there have been some dodgy doings by the club of late with six games in League and Cup without a win, before beating Brentford and Nottingham Forest in the last two matches.
Yet, they have beaten Arsenal five times in their history, although none of these victories came in the last six games.
Their approach this season does in fact seem to be one of looking for soft targets and picking up points that way But, they are not averse to the dreaded “dips” of which we have discussed seveal times this season.
Thus, starting on 3 December, they went six games without a win. They did, however, then beat Burnley, but this was only to be followed by another six without a win. But then again, the last two games have seen them pick up with the 0-2 away win to Brentford and the 2-1 home win against Forest.
Tehir’s top scorer is a name well known to us: Danny Welbeck, who has knocked in 11 while Gómez has put away 10. After that, they have one player with four, and then a clutch of players on three and two goals.
Now, as you may recall, this has been a season for Arsenal in which the copycat journalists and their publishers have decided that the main Arsenal story is that the club needs a centre forward. They said that through the first half the season, repeated it ten times a day during the January window, and have only recently stopped, waking up to the fact (oft announced on this site) that the goals scored table in the Premier League now reads….
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 29 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 58 | 22 | 36 | 64 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 28 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 57 | 25 | 32 | 59 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 28 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 50 | 38 | 12 | 51 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 28 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 49 | 33 | 16 | 45 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 28 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 47 | 37 | 10 | 48 |
| 11 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 28 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 38 | 35 | 3 | 37 |
Now I may be reading this upside down (it has been known), but from here it looks to me as if Arsenal are the top scoring team in the League, have the best defence in the league and thus the best goal difference in the league.
Meanwhile, of all the games played between the clubs, Arsenal have won the majority,
And indeed, recent data between the two tell a more emphatic story since the half dozen games between the two have resulted in four Arsenal wins and two draws, with a score tally of 11 for Arsenal and three for Brighton and Hove. Overall, Brighton have won two and lost three of their last six.
Their goals tally, 38 scored and 35 conceded is pretty much average mid-table Arsenal have scored 20 more and conceded 13 fewer. But I suspect that even despite those last two victories over Brentford and Forest, that previous run of defeats to Fulham, Palace, Aston Villa and Liverpool with just a draw with Everton to relieve the pain, may make them retreat solidly into defence for this match and hope for an Arsenal mistake and a quick Brighton breakaway.
Or perhaps a friendly ref. We’ll have a look at the referee’s behaviour this season in the next piece.
