I’ve spent much of this week engaged in a war of words with fans of other European leagues. All I did was remark on how Gabriel Jesus has promptly looked like an elite forward upon moving from the Premier League to La Liga, and much of the response was a bit rabid. Which I get. People don’t like being told that the standard of the league their favorite team plays in is relatively lower. But at this point in time, that is pretty obviously the case.
Some people who see this might deny that. They might insist that clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain running rampant year after year after year in their respective divisions somehow equates to a better league, which I personally find mind-boggling. Others might claim that the Premier League being more competitive is simply down to the “Big Six” worsening rather than anything else. And sure, the idea that certain big clubs have fallen isn’t entirely wrong; Manchester United, Chelsea, and Spurs have spent the last few years embarrassing themselves for our enjoyment (and I thank them for that).
However, it is an objective truth that the other clubs outside of the historic elites of the English top flight have collectively improved to a great extent. The riches that come as a beneficiary of the Premier League’s television deals, as well as intelligent recruitment, have allowed the perennial middle class of the division to assemble squads containing high-end talent led by some of the best tactical minds on the continent. Now, they have what it takes to compete with bigger clubs — in England and abroad — both on the pitch and in the transfer market.
In the last five years, a Bundesliga club has made the final of the Champions League, Europa League, or Europa Conference League four times. La Liga has produced six finalists while Serie A boasts seven. The Premier League, however, is responsible for 12 finalists in those competitions in that time. The likes of Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, and West Ham (now playing in the Championship) can rightfully claim to be European cup winners.
The Premier League is a crucible. Unprecedented parity in the English top flight has turned every game, all 38 matchweeks, into an almighty battle. After signing onto the European Super League all those years ago, Arsenal find themselves in something not too dissimilar. And the champions were strongly reminded of that on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta’s men traveled to the coast at the weekend to take on Brighton’s high-flying Seagulls. Sat in sixth place ahead of the match, Fabian Hürzeler’s men were the top-scoring side in the Premier League so far this season. They had just come back from two goals down to defeat United at Old Trafford and knock them out of the Carabao Cup. But Arsenal’s hosts entered the match with a fair number of injuries, while the visitors named perhaps their strongest possible lineup to start.
Since the title win in May, I’ve been nothing but confident in this Arsenal team. They have earned my trust and then some. However, I’ve felt uneasy about this game as it approach. Brighton have looked fearless and unrelenting of late. And considering how aggrieved the German manager had been following the Gunners’ ugly win at the American Express Stadium last season, I suspected Hürzeler would be out for revenge. It was just a hunch. Unfortunately, I was right to be worried.
From minute one, Brighton unleashed a suffocating press on Arsenal. The home side worked their socks off and forced a cascade of mistakes from the champions. The Gunners committed to playing through this aggressive press, but rarely produced enough quality on the ball to do so effectively — the below graphic shows that they lost possession in dangerous areas alarmingly frequently. Arsenal were continually turned over the ball in awkward moments, allowing Brighton to get a firm grip on the game from early on.
[X avatar for @markrstats
markstats@markrstatsIt’s even worse than I thought. Arsenal lost possession in the “danger zone” 41 times, and five of those losses led to a Brighton shot 9:08 AM · Sep 19, 2026 · 55.9K Views4 Replies · 82 Reposts · 365 Likes](https://t.co/8ZdBDdwAl4">pic.twitter.com/8ZdBDdwAl4
— markstats (@markrstats) September)Brighton also dominated in the middle of the pitch. Despite fielding a midfield trio of Declan Rice, Bruno Guimarães, and Martin Ødegaard — very arguably their best combination in the center of the park — Arsenal continuously lost duels and were outmatched in getting to second balls as well. For large chunks of the match, the hosts controlled the central third.
Even when Arsenal did manage to break the press and transition, they were unable to manufacture final actions that were particularly threatening. On the counter the Gunners either showcased poor decision-making or produced frustratingly sloppy execution. This of course only allowed Brighton to then break at speed toward the visitors’ goal, exacerbating matters. This is probably what Hürzeler had counted on — the Seagulls’ manager was surely aware of the possibility of Arsenal driving at his goal should they beat his press, and likely decided that their historic inefficiency in that regard made committing his players further up the pitch worth the risk.
In the end, this superiority on and off the ball told for Brighton. Two long-range strikes after Arsenal allowed too much space for a shot and a back post header courtesy of some woeful set piece defending ensured that the Seagulls ran out 3-0 winners. After such a strong start to the season for the Gunners, after seven consecutive wins in all competitions, they have been punched in the mouth.
Right now, there’s no reason to panic. It’s just one of those things that happens a few times a season for even the best teams. Sometimes, you encounter a team at a bad time. And sometimes, you encounter them at that inopportune moment when you yourself are in the midst of an uncharacteristic stumble.
It’s an early reminder for Arteta’s men that no matter how good you are, the Premier League is unforgiving. If your standards dip even slightly against the wrong team, even the champions will be punished to the maximum. There are no Racing Santanders to be found in the English top flight.
Now, Arsenal go into an extended international break. The Gunners will have three weeks to stew on a shoddy performance all around while the players attempt to shake it off on international duty. Arteta and his staff will certainly be in the lab formulating a strategy to avoid this outcome again. To be fair it would be fair to say that this match, Arsenal’s fourth away game in two weeks, was perhaps a bridge too far in terms of demand on the team. But that won’t mean much if Manchester City establish a three-point lead at the top of the table.
The champions have been put on notice — they have to be better than that if they are to retain their title.
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Fallers
Bruno Guimarães
After a heroic and match-winning performance at Sunderland, Guimarães’ follow-up didn’t quite reach the same heights. The Brazilian was afforded the start at the Amex. Unfortunately, he produced what I’d bet is one of his worst performances of the season.
Initially, I thought this would be a good matchup for him. Guimarães is one of the best in the Premier League at progressive passing under pressure but against Brighton’s press, he struggled. He was sloppy in possession on a number of occasions, not only squandering potential attacks (in particular I remember him infuriatingly misplacing a straightforward pass to Martin Ødegaard that would have triggered a promising counter) but often getting caught on the ball when trying to dribble out of danger. This of course would then allow Brighton to break. And when the Seagulls did storm down the field in response, his defending was often found wanting too.
Guimarães was perhaps one of the more complicit players in allowing Brighton to gain control in midfield. The summer signing repeatedly was second-best in his duels and failed to reach second balls before an opposition player. Ultimately, it just wasn’t his day.
Gabriel
Brighton’s first two goals were excellent shots from outside the area that rifled into the very corners of the frame of Arsenal’s goal. They are the kinds of goals that make you hold your hands up and say, “Fair enough.”
With that being said, Pascal Groß and Charalampos Kostoulas both received far too much time and space on the ball prior to the shot. Both players received the ball in shooting range and were able to comfortably pick their spot and swing. In each scenario, Gabriel was one of the Arsenal defenders who backed off excessively, affording those yards and seconds to the opposition.
It’s pretty uncharacteristic from the Brazilian. With Riccardo Calafiori and Ezri Konsa each also sitting off for the first and second goals respectively, I would have expected Gabriel to assume the responsibility of closing down the space. To see him defend so passively instead of rushing out to block the shot or simply unnerve the opponent was disappointing, and it cost the Gunners.
Bukayo Saka
To preface this, I think some odd members of the Arsenal fanbase have lain in wait for a match like this in order to go after Saka. There is plenty to criticize, but there seems to be an agenda forming against him online because of his status as Arsenal’s highest-paid player. Apparently he’s been bad for years or something. I don’t really care to delve into that madness much further than that, so I don’t know much else about it. But I want to note it and say, in case you think I’m coming at him from a similar angle, that I think Saka is a great player who is currently inducing a bit of frustration.
In the 45th minute, Saka latched onto the loose ball following a blocked shot by Ødegaard, with only Bart Verbruggen to beat. But the Englisman could only weakly poke the ball in the keeper’s direction, which Verbruggen gratefully caught. And even knowing that the Arsenal winger was likely offside when he made the attempt on goal, I wish he would have just put the ball in the net.
Because then play would have stopped and Brighton wouldn’t have ventured back down the pitch and scored the second from there. Arsenal would have made it to halftime only down 1-0 and maybe then they could have salvaged something. But instead the hosts had a two-goal cushion and felt emboldened enough to go for the third after the break.
Additionally, in the 26th minute when the sides were still level, I think Saka’s ball in behind for Christos Tzolis was a little underhit, which forced the Greek forward more inside than he would have liked and ultimately led to the transition breaking down. Essentially, the story of Saturday for Saka was one of poor execution and decision-making in the final third. Normally Arsenal’s best attacking player, the Englishman has simply not been as clinical or efficient with his final action as his team needs him to be. But there is plenty of encouragement to take — he finished with the most chances created (three), most touches in the opposition box (nine), and most dribbled completed (three).
Kai Havertz
Havertz also had a disappointing outing at the Amex. The German, tasked with serving as Arsenal’s target man up the pitch, had a difficult time making the ball stick. As the game wore on, he tried dropping deeper into midfield in order to try to help gain more of a foothold in the match. Unfortunately, he did more harm than good in that regard, which led to Havertz giving away the corner that Brighton scored their third goal from.
When the Arsenal center forward received his own opportunity to score, he seriously fluffed his lines. In the 78th minute, Viktor Gyökeres played a surprisingly clever ball over the top to put Havertz in on goal. One-on-one with Verbruggen, the German confoundingly decided to hit a knuckleball straight at the Brighton keeper.
Given that Arsenal were already 3-0 down at the time, would it have changed things? Probably not. Is it yet another instance of Arsenal being painfully wasteful with their chances? Yes, it absolutely is.
David Raya
For Raya, I have a half-hearted criticism and a full-throated one. The half-hearted one goes something like this: I think the Arsenal keeper probably could have done a little better for the second goal (and probably the third goal as well, although the corner routine was clearly designed to impede his movement a bit), but I struggle to reconcile that with the idea that some long-range goals are just unstoppable thunderbastards you have to accept as a part of life. However, I will note that I found the stat below interesting:
[X avatar for @OptaJoe
OptaJoe@OptaJoe20.6% - Among goalkeepers that have conceded 100+ goals in the Premier League, only Hans Segers (22% - 36/164) has conceded a higher proportion from outside the penalty area than David Raya (20.6% - 33/160). Range. 7:53 AM · Sep 19, 2026 · 442K Views79 Replies · 627 Reposts · 3.6K Likes](https://x.com/OptaJoe/status/2101323792911904905?s=20)
The full-throated one is a bit more actionable, in my opinion. To start the match, Raya’s initial response to Brighton’s press was to hit some long passes out for a throw-in, handing possession back to the opponents. Normally a keeper with the composure of a midfielder on the ball, the Spaniard suddenly appeared shaky in possession.
That lack of security instilled a franticness early on that only festered from there as the pressure built. I think it served as an early confirmation to Brighton that their plan was working, fueling them as they laid siege. At this level, these little things matter. Next time — and there will be a next time — I hope Raya is a little more prepared.
Martin Ødegaard
The Arsenal captain has enjoyed a fine start to the 2026/27 campaign. He has looked back to himself and currently is the club’s leading scorer in all competitions. However, it still looks like that even when he is enjoying his football, there are still some games that he just isn’t as equipped for as we would like.
As I stated before, the Gunners failed to control the center of the pitch. And this is primarily down to the champions not winning the midfield battle. Ødegaard, who isn’t renowned for his physicality, unfortunately is among the culprits.
Simply put, the Norwegian didn’t compete off the ball with the Seagulls. He attempted no aerial duels and did not win a single one of the four ground duels he entered. He also finished the match with one ball recovery and no other defensive contributions outside of a clearance. The skipper has to do better than that when his team are struggling the way they did at the Amex. Moving forward, I wonder if Mikel Merino or Martín Zubimendi would be better suited to dealing with these specific sorts of encounters.
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