Arsenal star told he was getting ‘bullied’ against Brighton in the Carabao Cup

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One Arsenal player struggled in the early stages of the Carabao Cup clash against Brighton.

As expected, Mikel Arteta heavily rotated his squad to face Brighton, with teenagers Max Dowman and Andre Harriman-Annous given their full senior debuts.

It was a night to remember for the pair of Arsenal academy stars, and for others, it was a chance to get some minutes.

Myles Lewis-Skelly has seen his game time reduce this season, and against Brighton, the teenager faced the challenge of keeping Georginio Rutter quiet.

Tony Gale says Myles Lewis-Skelly was ‘bullied’ against Brighton

Some are surprised that Lewis-Skelly isn’t starting for Arsenal right now, but the Hale End graduate is being kept out of the side by Riccardo Calafiori.

On Wednesday night, the England international was given the chance to impress Arteta, which was something he had to work for.

Speaking on Sky Sports+ commentary [29/10/2025 20:13], Tony Gale noticed that Lewis-Skelly was being dominated by Rutter early in the contest.

“Lewis-Skelly’s got to realise pretty quickly that Rutter is a lot stronger than him,” Gale said.

“He’s been bullied a couple of times on that side of the pitch.”

Lewis-Skelly is one of Arsenal’s strongest players, but he certainly met his match in Rutter, who duelled with the teen multiple times to make his presence known.

Duels galore early on for Lewis-Skelly against Brighton

Arteta was able to heavily rotate his side without having to worry about the gap between first and second choice.

Lewis-Skelly was a starter at Arsenal last season, and though the tables have turned and game time is lacking, Brighton weren’t going to underestimate the youngster.

In the first half, Lewis-Skelly was involved in seven duels, coming out on top in five of them. 

The Seagulls put immense pressure on the left-back in a bid to break down Arsenal’s defence, with Rutter managing to get through several times in the early stages.

It was a tough start for Lewis-Skelly, but fortunately, the 19-year-old was able to remain strong to take a clean sheet into the interval.