Brighton’s visit to the Emirates in the summer should have faded into memory by now some four months or so later but ask Arsenal fan about games they remember this season and it will be one of the first to mind.
Not because it was a stand-out result or because of some particular moment of brilliance from either side but rather because of a moment of injustice which still rankles with all Arsenal fans to this day: Declan Rice’s red card.
It irritates me even now to think about it. About the referee’s stupid ‘he gave me no choice’ shrug, about the Brighton manager’s defiant refusal to acknowledge the injustice, and about the points dropped that should have been ours. Most of all, though, what sticks in the craw is the way Arsenal remain to this day the only side to have seen a player sent off for the risible ‘delaying the restart’ (not once but twice).
Never has a refereeing directive been so quickly and quietly scrapped, so roundly acknowledged as stupid and pointless and utterly unenforceable. And yet, in all likelihood, it has cost us four points.
Football fans have long memories and you can be certain the Rice red card will be dusted off for years to come, and rightly so.
This weekend it should take centre stage in the minds of Arsenal fans and players again as we travel to the south coast for the return fixture against Brighton. It should serve as the motivation we need to be competitive in what is so often a difficult fixture for us. Sometimes, a manager has to really work hard to find an angle for his players to get them fired up but Mikel Arteta should have no trouble this time around. The script to this tale of revenge should write itself.
It’s a chance for the Gunners to go out and get the result they should have had in north London, it’s a chance to stick two fingers up to the Brighton players and manager, few of whom shied away from taking full advantage of the ridiculousness of it all at the time. If we want for anything this weekend, it certainly shouldn’t be motivation.
On the playing side, the manager will be without Jurrien Timber because of suspension and, with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White still some weeks away, that means some reshuffling of the pack. More likely than not, we will see Thomas Partey at right back. While the Ghanian is capable in the role, it weakens us considerably as an attacking unit and I’m sure Brighton will look to the make the most of that.
Ahead of Partey will likely be Ethan Nwaneri and one thing we don’t want is to see him isolated. Bukayo Saka is well capable of playing some distance from support because of how good he is but Ethan, for all his talent, is inexperienced at this level. He will need bodies around him if we are to see the best of him and the best of our right-hand side.
Elsewhere, I don’t see too much cause for change. I expect Declan Rice will come back into the fold having started on the bench in midweek but things should look pretty similar elsewhere. Even with Kai Havertz likely to return to the squad, I don’t expect we will see Gabriel Jesus dropped with the form he is in.
With all that said, the real test for Arsenal will be whether they can utilise what happened to them earlier this season to make a point. Having seen glimpses into the dressing room during the All or Nothing series, I am almost certain it will be front and centre for the squad this week. Hopefully, it will be channeled in the right way because Brighton are an excellent side capable of hurting anyone.
This time around, though, it has to be us leaving a bitter taste. There’s revenge to be had.
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