Brighton team news vs Arsenal: Key man missing as Albion suffer major blow
Kaoru Mitoma is a surprise absentee from the Brighton squad, set to face Arsenal at the Emirates, on Saturday, December 27.
The Japan wide man came off the bench in the previous two league matches against Liverpool and Sunderland.
He was being eased back into the team after a foot injury, which kept him out of action for almost three months.
The 28-year-old is reportedly missing from the matchday squad at Arsenal due to illness.
Hurzeler’s most recent comments about Mitoma came ahead of the goalless draw with Sunderland.
The German said: “He is a starting option, but let's see. It's about getting an understanding with the medical (department) what is best for an individual player.
"I think by his individual skill he contributes so much to the team because every opponent knows if they try to defend against him one-against-one, they will have problems. They always have to double up if they want to defend him. This gives us a free player in another part of the pitch, then it's about how do we find the free player.
"So I think that's a big contribution from Kaoru. On top of that, we need his goals. We need a system. I think every team relies on their top players and he's one of our top players, so therefore his contribution is massive for us.”
After the defeat at Anfield, Hurzeler said of Mitoma: “It's important that he's back. I think he had a good start after long injury. He seemed to be in a good place.”
In better news for Brighton, Lewis Dunk is back from suspension and Jan Paul van Hecke has recovered from illness. Diego Coppola, who helped the Seagulls keep a clean sheet against Sunderland, completes the back-three in the change of formation.
Olivier Boscagli, Mats Wieffer and Yankuba Minteh have all dropped to the bench, with Diego Gomez replacing the latter.
Albion will start the match without a recognised striker. Danny Welbeck and Charalampos Kostoulas are both on the bench, whilst Stefanos Tzimas is out injured.
Brighton: Verbruggen; van Hecke, Dunk, Coppola; Hinshelwood, Ayari, Gomez, Kadioglu; Gruda, Rutter, De Cuyper
Subs: Steele, Minteh, Watson, Welbeck, Kostoulas, Milner, Boscagli, Wieffer, Veltman