In advance of Brighton’s Carabao Cup match against Arsenal, manager Fabian Hurzeler has been speaking. On Wednesday night, Arsenal will play their fourth-round Carabao Cup match at home against Brighton. With a four-point advantage at the top of the Premier League, the Gunners will be aiming for a quarterfinal berth and continuing their stellar run.
Despite being somewhat below mid-table in the Premier League following their weekend loss to Manchester United, Brighton are always tough customers. Nevertheless, the Seagulls will come to the Emirates Stadium confident that they can advance to the next round, even against the league leaders.
However, senior standout James Milner’s absence—which has been confirmed due to what is termed as a minor muscular injury—won’t assist the Seagulls. As anticipated, Joel Veltman, Jack Hinshelwood, Brajan Gruda, and Kaoru Mitoma are still out.
Fabian Hurzeler explains how to defend Arsenal’s corners
In recent months, Arsenal’s set-piece threat has grown so strong that it is once again being discussed. There has been much discussion on how to stop the Gunners, but Hurzeler seems to have done a great job of breaking it down.
“You can’t defend them one against one; that’s the first thing,” he stated prior to Brighton and Arsenal’s Carabao Cup match. The second issue is that, in my opinion, it’s not only Gabriel but also their joint movement. They block each other rather effectively, in my opinion.
Given how precise Declan Rice’s deliveries are, being able to block such movements seems crucial. Hurzeler and Brighton believe that culture is built around set pieces rather than individual instances.
“On the other hand, we are quite good at defending, so when we look at our defending record and statistics this season, we are quite good,” he stated. Maybe if the set-piece culture is accepted rather than rejected, the league as a whole may become more egalitarian.
