Brighton vs Arsenal: 3 Things We Learned After Gunners Loss

· GiveMeSport

Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season away at Brighton on Saturday afternoon.

Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the new season on Saturday, losing 3-0 away at a rampant Brighton & Hove Albion side in the Premier League .

The Gunners' nine-match winning run in the league came to an end in dramatic fashion as Fabian Hurzeler's men ran rings around them for 90 minutes. Pascal Gross' stunning strike broke the deadlock, before Charalampos Kostoulas also scored a spectacular goal on the stroke of half-time, giving Mikel Arteta's side a mountain to climb in the second half.

The Spaniard's team weren't able to climb this mountain, and instead allowed Brighton to add to their tally, courtesy of a Chema Andres header from a corner.

The result is a damaging one for Arsenal , with Manchester City now granted the opportunity to move three points clear of the North Londoners when they take on Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

That said, this is Arteta's outfit's first setback of the season, and given how they've responded to adversity in recent years, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them bounce straight back after the international break.

Arsenal's kryptonite has so often been a stubborn mid-block. When the opposition pack the centre with players and try to disrupt the Gunners' possession in the middle third, Arteta's side find it extremely difficult to break through and often resort to passing around the block to no avail.

However, against Brighton, they struggled with a very different approach. The Seagulls pressed Arsenal high when the Gunners had the ball in their own defensive third. Arteta's men simply could not play the ball around this block and eventually succumbed to going long and losing possession.

This meant the North Londoners were unable to construct intricate build-up moves, and therefore had no sustainable way of getting the ball up the pitch. In turn, this meant Arsenal essentially lacked an attack of any sort throughout.

Arteta's team have become synonymous with set-pieces in recent years, using dead-ball situations as an offensive weapon. However, they're yet to get going on this front this season, while they actually looked extremely vulnerable defensively in these moments.

Brighton's third and final goal came from a relatively straightforward corner, with Gross delivering to the back post and finding a free Chema, who rose highest to score. This was one of a number of dangerous Seagulls corners, with many not quite resulting in a goal.

It's difficult to diagnose why this was such an issue for Arsenal, given they had all the personnel they needed to deal with these aerial balls into the box. It's possible that David Raya simply wasn't aggressive enough in terms of coming to claim crosses, but this will certainly be a major cause for concern for Arteta, particularly as this is usually an area they're so strong in.

Arteta named a front three of Bukayo Saka, Christos Tzolis and Kai Havertz on the south coast — the trio he has leaned on right from the start of the campaign. While the three boast a nice blend of attributes, there is certainly something missing, particularly on days when not everything is going for the Gunners.

All three players like the ball to feet, and Arsenal therefore lacked a direct running threat in behind. In the past, Gabriel Martinelli would take this responsibility, but Tzolis doesn't really have this skill in his locker.

Arsenal Front Three Statistics vs Brighton

Stat

Havertz

Saka

Tzolis

Touches

42

39

33

Shots

2

2

0

Expected Goals

0.82

0,32

0

Key Passes

0

3

0

Expected Assists

0.02

0.33

0.08

Successful Dribbles

1/1 (100%)

3/5 (60%)

0

Pass Accuracy

24/28 (86%)

16/21 (76%)

19/22 (86%)

This game exposed this front three and showed that Arsenal need a more dynamic Plan B with different traits on days when this attack isn't getting the job done. It doesn't seem as though this threat is likely to come from the bench, with Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze failing to make an impact after they were introduced as late substitutes.

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