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EPL Gomez could make his 50th appearance for Brighton against Arsenal Mike Hewitt/Getty Images Two South American players were heavily involved in Brighton & Hove Albion’s last Premier League win against Arsenal. Julio Enciso and Pervis Estupinan were both on the scoresheet in a 3-0 victory under former head coach Roberto De Zerbi at the Emirates Stadium in May 2023. The South American influence stretched further than the Paraguayan forward and the Ecuador left-back. Estupinan’s compatriot Moises Caicedo played in midfield, alongside Alexis Mac Allister. Mac Allister was joined in the second half from the bench by another Argentinian, Facundo Buonanotte. Advertisement Arsenal do not have to worry about any of these players at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday evening. Enciso (Strasbourg), Estupinan (AC Milan), Caicedo (Chelsea) and Mac Allister (Liverpool) have all left Brighton permanently in recent summer transfer windows. Buonanotte is on loan at Leeds United for the rest of the season after a similar spell with Chelsea that ran until January. Igor Julio is also unlikely to feature against Arsenal either. The Brazilian central defender is yet to make an appearance since a season-long loan with West Ham was curtailed in January. He has not even made the matchday squad for the last four games. The combination of factors behind the dwindling South American contingent was examined by The Athletic last August — including a switch in attention to other foreign markets that offer better value. But the continent has still provided Brighton with a player who poses a threat to Arsenal in their tussle for the title with Manchester City. Diego Gomez is bang in form ahead of his likely 50th Brighton appearance against Mikel Arteta’s side. He became only the third Paraguayan player to net five or more goals in a single Premier League campaign by scoring in Sunday’s 2-1 home win over Nottingham Forest. That was a second goal in as many matches for Gomez after also opening the scoring in a 2-0 victory at Brentford — which saw him join Roque Santa Cruz (19 goals in 2007-08 for Blackburn Rovers) and Miguel Almiron (11 goals in 2022-23 for Newcastle United) in that select Paraguayan club. Those strikes came with Gomez operating as a right winger. Head coach Fabian Hurzeler has also used the adaptable 22-year-old on the left wing, as the No 10 and as a central midfielder — the latter position is his main role for his country. “He’s South American and South Americans are very passionate about football, passionate about improving, getting better every day, ” Hurzeler told The Athletic after the Forest game. “You see it in his effort. He never rests. He is always there for the team. Advertisement “He is a hard worker. On top of that, he has some really good quality, an amazing finish, a good understanding of the game. He attacks the box well, and he is always keen on learning. He is a really good listener. He tries to adapt to the new culture as quickly as possible. He is learning English, so overall I really enjoy working with him. ” The dexterity of Gomez extends to the nature of his goals. Against Forest, he showed great technique, slicing across the ball with an angled right-foot drive through the legs of defender Murillo, with sufficient power to beat goalkeeper Matz Sels. This angle of Diego's strike… ? ‍? pic. twitter. com/DQod MGN1vk — Brighton & Hove Albion (@Official BHAFC) March 3, 2026 At Brentford, Gomez produced a tidy finish with his left foot from the rebound after Ferdi Kadioglu’s curling effort from outside the box struck the crossbar. He also started the move for Danny Welbeck’s winner against Forest by switching the play to the left with a cross-field run and pass inside his own half. It is hard for opponents to pin down Gomez, and he packs a punch with his right foot. Barnsley discovered that to their cost — with two explosive finishes in the four goals Gomez scored against the League One side in a 6-0 stroll away from home in the Carabao Cup in August. Absolutely incredible from Diego Gomez! ? ? pic. twitter. com/Wv Gk Wt4pvs — Brighton & Hove Albion (@Official BHAFC) September 24, 2025 Gomez fired a warning shot to Arsenal as well in the 2-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium in December, rifling a rebound into the roof of the net after Yasin Ayari hit the far post with a daisy-cutter. It all adds up to 10 goals in total for Gomez this season, to add to another spectacular effort in a 4-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur at the end of last season, his first goal for Brighton. The South American roots of the boy who helped out on the family farm in his hometown of San Juan Bautista, 125 miles south of Paraguay’s capital, Asuncion, are not the only reason that Gomez stands out in the Brighton squad. Advertisement They concentrate the vast majority of their transfer business in the longer summer transfer windows, using the shorter winter window more often than not for signings with the future more in mind than the present. That was not the case with Gomez, who joined in a winter window. Admittedly, the deal that brought him from being an Inter Miami team-mate of Lionel Messi to the club for £11million in January 2025 had been set up months in advance. By March of that year, Hurzeler included him in the starting line-up for the first time in a 2-1 home victory over Bournemouth. Gomez said afterwards: “After 30 to 40 minutes, I was already exhausted, since I wasn’t on par with my team-mates. ” He has made consistent progress since that breathless introduction to England’s top flight. Following the weekend’s action, he had also carried out the most high-intensity runs per 30 minutes in possession of any central midfielder in the Premier League, ahead of Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez and Manchester City’s Tijjani Reijnders, according to Switzerland-based research group the CIES Football Observatory. This is a big year for Gomez, who shone as a 14-year-old in the academy of Asuncion-based club Libertad with international team-mate Enciso. He is integral to Paraguay’s World Cup hopes this summer under Argentinian Gustavo Alfaro. Playing as a central midfielder, Gomez again demonstrated his eye for goal with his first goal for his country, a spectacular effort past Alisson, which gave Paraguay their first victory over Brazil in 16 years in a South American World Cup qualifier in 2024. Gomez also scored in a 2-2 friendly draw against Japan last October. DIEGO GOMEZ SCORES A BANGER TO LIFT PARAGUAY OVER BRAZIL! ? ? pic. twitter. com/Wgr Vir OWj3 — Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 11, 2024 Alfaro mentioned a conversation he had with Gomez in pre-season during a national team press conference in September, which followed Brighton’s 2-1 home win over Manchester City in August. Gomez had referred to Hurzeler’s plans of “putting me behind the 9”. Alfaro said: “And yes, they are putting him behind the 9 because he’s a player who has the ability… Because you have no problem playing with your back to goal, and you have passed between the lines, and you have a (good) mid-range shot. “So in the second half against Man City, they put him behind the No 9 and Diego played very well in that position. He has no problem playing in that position. ” Wherever Gomez pops up on the pitch, he could be a problem as well for Arsenal. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Andy Naylor worked for 32. 5 years on the sports desk of The Argus, Brighton’s daily newspaper. For the last 25 of those years he was chief sports reporter, primarily responsible for coverage of Brighton and Hove Albion FC. Follow Andy on Twitter @Andy Naylor BHAFC