Third round of the Premier League and Arsenal are potentially already behind champions Manchester City. Guardiola and his men are playing West Ham later today and if they win they will sit at the top of the table, where currently Brighton is. And the Seagulls are in that position at the moment due to their surprise draw at the Emirates: Arsenal – Brighton 1-1. There were times when coach Mikel Arteta was furious with referees’ decisions last year (Newcastle comes to mind), and he might do this again after the thrid round already, since it was his team who took the lead and looked better, before a bit odd second yellow card to Declan Rice changed everything.Arteta should be happy with his team’s display before this incident and especially with Kai Havertz. The mutch criticized German international maybe finally found his form and a place as the striker as his goal contribution in last 16 games has been 18! On top of that, he scored the only goal of the game. But Brighton also showed good display not in this but also in the first two games of the season, as their blistering attacking trio is causing problems for everybody. 3 – Bukayo Saka is the first Arsenal player to provide an assist in each of the first three games of a Premier League season since Thierry Henry in 2004-05. Footsteps. #ARSBHA pic.twitter.com/9H61JlS1E2— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 31, 2024 The first half was interesting only for those with tactical knowledge as both teams played like that, both building from the back and pressing as much as possible. So, until the first goal, they basically denied each other out. Arsenal had three chances but they were not so big. Brighton’s Hinshelwood had enormous problems with Saka, who was bursing through him whenever he wanted. And then the goal came out of the blue, without a concrete idea. A long ball punted high into the air and it came down to a duel between Dunk and Saka, who outmuscled him and forced the ball through to Havertz who cooley lobbed the keeper for the lead.The second half was quite the opposite, as chances and quick paced counter-attacked happened often, but the reason for that was Declan Rice’s second yellow card in the 49th minute. It was a really odd incident. Rice, having already committed a foul, kicked the ball away as Veltman was about to take a free-kick. Veltman followed through strongly anyway and, perhaps inadvertently, hacked Rice down, Initially, it looked like he is in trouble but it was Rice who received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away. The equalizer soon followed after Minteh came between two Arsenal defenders and manage to beat them but it was Joao Pedro who picked up the ball after Raya’s rebound to score. It was actually Arsenal with a first serous chance even with a man down, but Havertz’s shot was saved by Verbruggen with his feet. Two minutes late it was Raya’ turn to save a point when Ayari took a shot. And agan, two minutes later, Saka was in front of Brigton’s goal but Verbruggen saved his team and kept them at the top of the table for at least a couple of hours.PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 3SaturdayArsenal – Brighton 1-1 (1-0)/Havertz 38 – Pedro 56/17:00: (3.00) Ipswich (3.40) Fulham (2.35)17:00: (5.00) Leicester (3.70) Aston Villa (1.80)17:00: (2.85) Everton (3.40) Bournemouth (2.60)17:00: (1.80) Brentford (3.60) Southampton (4.60)17:00: (2.05) Nott.Forest (3.45) Wolverhampton (3.60)19:30: (8.00) West Ham (5.00) Man.City (1.38)Sunday15:30: (1.65) Chelsea (3.80) Crystal Palace (5.40)15:30: (2.55) Newcastle (3.90) Tottenham (2.60)18:00: (3.80) Man.Utd. (4.10) Liverpool (1.95)***odds are subject to change***
