(Football news) In Wednesday’s goalless draw with Brentford, the Seagulls were unable to find a way through, while Arsenal, although playing below par against Luton Town, prevailed two goals to none.

In Tuesday, Brighton’s current crop created a new club record at the Gtech Community Stadium, but one of the unwelcome kind, as the Seagulls recorded their highest number of shots without a goal in an away Premier League match against relegation-threatened Brentford.

Twenty-four shots were fired on the Brentford goal without success by Roberto De Zerbi’s troops, who would seemingly be gifted a golden chance to right their attacking wrongs from the penalty spot as referee Andy Madley reviewed a possible Yoane Wissa foul on Lewis Dunk, but the official stuck went against the grain and with his on-field decision.

Thanks to that refereeing collector’s item, staunch Brentford defending and familiar Brighton wastefulness on the road – where they have scored just once in their last five away games in all tournaments – the Seagulls squandered the chance to rise back into the top seven and reside in ninth place in the rankings at present.

While De Zerbi’s men appear to have suffered setback after setback in recent months, a place in Europe for 2024-25 remains very much in their grasp – seventh-placed West Ham United are only two points better off having played a game more – and home has been where the heart is for Brighton over the past several months.

Indeed, the Seagulls are on an exceptional 14-game unbeaten streak at the Amex Stadium since going down to AEK Athens in September’s Europa League affair, edging out Nottingham Forest and Roma by a goal to nil in their last two home fixtures, and they are yet to ship multiple goals in front of their own fans in 2024.

However, the last team to breach the Brighton rearguard more than once at the Amex hailed from North London – Tottenham Hotspur netted twice en route to a 4-2 loss at the end of December – but Arsenal possess something their bitter adversaries do not; resilience on the road.

A fourth away clean sheet in row was sealed during Easter Sunday’s tense affair with title rivals Manchester City, where the Gunners’ conservative style of play attracted plenty of debate and criticism, but Mikel Arteta’s troops reverted to their goalscoring ways when an injury-hit Luton arrived at the Emirates in midweek.

Martin Odegaard’s crisp strike and Daiki Hashioka’s own goal killed the contest before the half-time whistle blew, and even though a much-changed Arsenal crop did not blow their newly-promoted foes to smithereens, a comfortable triumph without depleting their energy resources would have been the order of the day for Arteta.

With their ninth victory in their last ten Premier League games in 2024, the Gunners overtook Liverpool to reclaim the top spot. However, Liverpool’s victory over Sheffield United on Thursday swiftly sent them back to second place. Now, Arteta’s team is headed south in pursuit of a fourth consecutive shutout in all competitions.

Arsenal, who lead the league in points (30), goals scored (34) and goals conceded (a league-low 11) when playing away from home, will face Brighton again four months after defeating the Seagulls 2-0 at the Emirates. This is similar to the team’s victory over Luton on Wednesday. However, Arsenal hasn’t defeated the Seagulls in back-to-back seasons since 2020–21.

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