Arteta urges Arsenal players and fans to stay calm in title race

Mikel Arteta has called for calm among both Arsenal players and fans during the Premier League run-in.

The Gunners face Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday, the first of nine remaining league games in 2025-26 as they battle Manchester City for the title.

Arsenal maintained their five-point lead over City, who have a game in hand, with a narrow 2-1 victory over 10-man Chelsea on Sunday, though there were plenty of nerves jangling in the closing stages at the Emirates Stadium.

Arteta was seen telling the home fans to calm down as his side struggled to keep control of the match, with Chelsea even seeing a late goal disallowed for offside, despite their numerical disadvantage.

The Arsenal manager believes both his players and the fans in the stadium must keep their cool if they are to achieve Premier League glory this season.

"We talk about every aspect of the game, and managing a game, managing a result, managing a set-time context; you have 10 men against eleven," said Arteta.

"It's a very important one. So, we discuss everything."

And about the fans, the Spaniard added: "I think when you have the ball, you need to make certain decisions.

"If I’m shouting to a player when they have the ball, 'pass to him, pass to him', you’re not making decisions, you’re just being told what to do.

"I mean, the crowd normally shouts in this country – 'shoot, shoot' from 40 yards as well. We can shoot all the time, then they say, 'what are you doing, shooting from there?', so I think we’ll have a split in stadiums.

"It’s natural that they are pushing, but we need to understand that it’s a moment we have to take our time to start attacking the right way."

Brighton moved up to 11th in the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest last time out, courtesy of a Danny Welbeck winner.

Seagulls boss Fabian Hurzeler spoke highly of Welbeck, believing the ex-Arsenal forward has a chance of being included in England's World Cup squad this summer.

"I think another German has to make the decision about that," Hurzeler said of Welbeck’s chances of being called up by England.

"All I can say is that he’s definitely a very important player for us and he adds a huge value for every team, especially when it comes to a World Cup squad where it's about togetherness, where it's about being a group.

"We are very happy that he's in our team. Not only as a great football player, but he’s a great person especially. He's a great connector. Every coach would be happy to have a player like him in their team."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brighton – Danny Welbeck

Welbeck has scored 10 Premier League goals this season, matching his best-ever tally, which he previously set in 2024-25.

One more goal would make the former Arsenal man only the third player to score more than 10 goals in a Premier League season for the very first time while aged 35 or older, after Gary McAllister in 1999-00 (35) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2016-17 (35).

Arsenal – Viktor Gyokeres

Gyokeres has been involved in six goals in his last seven away games for Arsenal in all competitions (five goals, one assist), having scored just twice (no assists) in his first 12 on the road for the Gunners.

MATCH PREDICTION – ARSENAL WIN

Arsenal lost two of their first three Premier League trips to the Amex against Brighton (D1), but have not lost any of their last five visits since 2020-21 (W3 D2).

Indeed, only two of the last nine Premier League meetings between Brighton and Arsenal have been won by the home side, though the Gunners won 2-1 earlier this season.

Between August and December in the Premier League this season, Arsenal scored just 11 goals in nine away games, an average of 1.2 per game. Since the turn of the year, they have netted 14 goals in six on the road, an average of 2.3 per game.

Brighton have won two of their last four Premier League home games against the team starting the day top of the table (D1 L1), both by a 3-2 scoreline.

However, both of these victories came after their opponents had already won the Premier League title (City in May 2021, Liverpool in May 2025).

Brighton have also won both of their last two Premier League games, after having only won one of their previous 13 beforehand (D6 L6). The Seagulls last won three successive league fixtures in May 2025.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Brighton – 22%

Draw – 22%

Arsenal – 56%