Maty Ryan gives this message to fans as Brighton plan to do the double over Arsenal
Albion’s victory at the Emirates – thanks to goals from Adam Webster and Neal Maupay – was one of highlights of their season.
At the time it moved Graham Potter’s men to a fairly comfortable midtable position. But since then, they have won just once – a 2-0 home triumph against struggling Bournemouth on December 28 and are two points above the relegation zone.
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Hide AdBrighton are yet to win in 2020 but their victory at the Emirates – along with an encouraging display in the 0-0 draw at Champions League chasing Wolves last Saturday – will no doubt boost morale for Arsenal.
“We can take confidence from those results,” said Ryan, who kept his first clean sheet of the year at Molineux. “But all form and history goes out of the window.
“Come game day we need to be up for it, do what’s needed to be done in order to get a result and we will see what happens on Saturday.”
Brighton have tweaked their style in recent weeks and a resolute display restricted Wolves to few goal scoring opportunities.
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Hide AdMartin Montoya, Adam Webster, Lewis Dunk and Dan Burn all defended well with support from deep midfielders Yves Bissouma and Davy Propper.
They also took less risks and didn’t play out from the back as much as they did earlier in the season.
Ryan insists their defensive style can change depending the opposition and they are capable of adapting once again for Arsenal, who have won their previous three Premier League matches.
Arsenal were due to face champions Manchester City on Wednesday but the match was postponed as a precaution due to the coronavirus.
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Hide Ad“There is changes every week,” added the Australian international. “We make tweaks to the game plan with whoever we are coming up against.
“There are times where he (Potter) has wanted to be more expansive at the back and try to play a lot more because he felt it would give us the best chance to win a game.
“At times he has told us to be more solid and try to take less risks at the back. It is about finding that balance.
“That is the challenge each week to implement the game plan that is going to give you the chance to win the game, that is his motive behind the tactics.”