Arsenal stunned by brilliant Brighton as champions trail on the south coast

Premier League champions Arsenal were dealt an early blow on their visit to the south coast as Brighton took the lead at the Amex Stadium.

After a bright start, Fabian Hurzeler’s side put the visitors under immense pressure and deservedly broke the deadlock when Pascal Gross let fly from 20 yards to beat the outstretched hand of David Raya. 

Brighton’s Charalampos Kostoulas had earlier forced a good save from Raya following Bruno Guimaraes’ error, as Mikel Arteta’s men struggled to establish a foothold in the game. 

Kostoulas added further misery to Arsenal’s afternoon when he drilled home a second for Brighton after being afforded too much time and space on the edge of the box on the stroke of half time.

It meant the Gunners went into the break two goals down with a mountain to climb in the second half if the north Londoners have any hope of salvaging something from the game and preserving their unbeaten start to the campaign.

For Brighton, meanwhile, victory could see them rise to as high as third in the table.

BRIGHTON LINE UP

Brighton: Verbruggen; Kadioglu, Struijk, Vuskovic, Boscagli; Ayari, Gross, Andres, Gomez, De Cuyper; Kostoulas

Brighton Substitutes: Steele, Hadjam, Rutter, David, Osman, Costinha, Svoboda, O’Reilly, Yalcouye

ARSENAL LINE UP

Arsenal: Raya; Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Guimaraes, Odegaard; Saka, Tzolis, Havertz

Arsenal Substitutes: Kepa, Hincapie, Eze, Gyokeres, Madueke, Merino, Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman

Recent Form & Stats for Brighton v Arsenal

• Arsenal have won all four of their Premier League matches this season.
• Arsenal have also won all seven of their matches across all competitions in 2026-27.
• Brighton have scored 13 goals in their opening four Premier League matches.
• Brighton have scored at least four goals in four of their last five matches.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in their last seven meetings with Brighton.
• Arsenal completed the Premier League double over Brighton last season.
• Max Dowman became the first male player to score twice for Arsenal before turning 17.