Arsenal drop triple team news hint for Brighton clash as Jurrien Timber replacement 'revealed'
Arsenal will be looking for a fifth consecutive victory as they travel to Brighton for a Premier League clash. The Gunners beat Brentford 3-1 - away from home - on New Year's Day with Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli all on target.
Another top-flight victory took Arsenal to within six points of Liverpool and that gap can be halved with a win on the south coast before Arne Slot's side face Manchester United the following day. Arsenal have thus far dealt very well with the hamstring injury to Bukayo Saka which looks set to keep him out for the next few months.
Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri have both covered for his absence on Arsenal's right-hand side, with the teenager impressing against the Bees. Kai Havertz missed out entirely from the matchday squad on that day due to illness while Declan Rice was on the bench after dealing with a niggle.
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The latter made it on to the pitch and Arteta has since revealed that Havertz is fit to feature, but Jurrien Timber is unavailable due to suspension after picking up a fifth yellow card in the final top-flight game before the threshold of bookings increases to 10.
In the ongoing absence of Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu, Timber has been required on a number of occasions with issues for Riccardo Calafiori also seeing Myles Lewis-Skelly feature more frequently for their first-team. With a number of options at his disposal, Arteta is facing some key decisions at full-back.
Exactly what he has decided has been hinted at by the Gunners in their pre-match graphic online, which includes Jorginho, Gabriel Magalhaes, Leandro Trossard and Calafiori.
All four of those players featuring will likely result in Jorginho anchoring the midfield with Rice perhaps not fully fit. That would suggest Partey is their replacement for Timber at right-back - with Calafiori continuing on the opposite side. Gabriel and William Saliba would, of course, then be the chosen centre-backs.
