Arsenal vs Brighton early injury news as 5 ruled out and 2 doubts

Arsenal are now preparing for their home clash with fast starters Brighton on Saturday as they continue their work to finalise their squad ahead of Friday night’s transfer deadline. The Gunners have enjoyed a strong start so far, beating Midlands duo Wolves and Aston Villa.

Only four teams have won both games so far, and Saturday’s opponents Brighton are one of those teams. The Seagulls thrashed Everton and defeated Manchester United last time out, setting up a tough clash for the Gunners this weekend. Here we round up all the early injury news surrounding both clubs.

Solly March - Out

March is back in training after a serious knee injury but he will not be ready yet. Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has said: “I’m so happy Solly is back. I think he went through a hard time, not only physically but also mentally.

“We try to be there for him, we try to support him. He had his first training sessions with the team. Not the whole training session but part of the training session. I think that was the right step in the right direction.”

Matt O’Riley - Out

O’Riley had to be helped off the pitch during Brighton’s Tuesday night Carabao Cup win over Crawley Town. Seagulls boss Hurzeler said after the game: "It doesn’t look good, to be honest. I think it was a really tough game. I was not happy with the performance. We can play better but you have to win tough, dirty games. It was a tough challenge.

"Ridiculous foul. It has nothing to do with football. This situation, it changed the game as afterwards it was emotional. I hope it is not so bad. I think it is easy to apologise, in the end we can't fix the player. It's tough to deal with it but it's part of football. It shouldn't be, fouls like this. This is not the way we should behave on the pitch."

Brajan Gruda - Doubt

Hurzeler said of Gruda’s fitness last week: “He had a small injury and we have to take care of him. So let's see next week.” Gruda should be in contention this week, but we will have to wait for a further update.

Mats Wieffer - Doubt

Wieffer has a small injury, while Huzeler has been critical of the new signing saying last weekend: “He [Wieffer] did not have the best start to the game. He made some easy mistakes in possession but when we look at his reaction, that was outstanding. He never hides from the ball. Even when he made a mistake, he was asking for the ball. That is something I ask from my players. For me, in his first PL game that is outstanding. In his position if you are hiding, then you have problems.”

Gabriel Jesus - Out

Jesus picked up a groin injury last week with Mikel Arteta saying: “Just at the end he felt something in his groin. We’ll need to assess him. We need to have an MRI scan to see, but he wasn’t available for the game. We have to see [how long he will be out]. Probably tomorrow or Monday we’ll have the results to see if it’s a matter of days or weeks. We don’t know.”

Reports have claimed the injury is not serious, but Jesus is not expected to be risked this weekend even if he is close.

Kieran Tierney - Out

Tierney is out with the hamstring injury he picked up at Euro 2024. He will not be available, and he could yet move on before Friday night’s deadline.

Takehiro Tomiyasu - Out

Tomiyasu is out with a knee injury he picked up in pre-season. Arteta said ahead of the new season: “I think it will take weeks on that one, unfortunately, and poor Tomi because of everything that he does. But he’s going to have to be patient and work through it because I think it’s going to take a few weeks.”

Mikel Merino - Available

Just a quick note to add that new signing Merino will be available to face Brighton barring any hiccups. International clearance should come in safely before Friday’s (midday) registration deadline for players to be available for Saturday and Sunday fixtures.