2 positives and 2 negatives from Arsenal's slender 2-1 win against Brighton

Mikel Arteta has lots to pore over after his Arsenal team made hard work of their Premier League tie with Brighton on Saturday.

Of course, the Seagulls are no pushovers; wins against Manchester City and Chelsea earlier this year are a testament to that. But they have struggled of late (just two points from their last five games in the league) and faced the leaders without influential midfield star Carlos Baleba, who is currently at AFCON.

Positives and negatives from Arsenal's narrow 2-1 Premier League win against Brighton

The Gunners played some nice football and were good value for the three points which sent them to the summit once more. Yet, there were several nervy moments at the end that will give the boss and players alike some food for thought ahead of next week.

Here are two positives and two negatives from a hard-fought 2-1 win for Arsenal over Brighton at the Emirates.

Positive #1: The Gunners make a fast start

Arsenal often take an age to get into the swing of things but they wasted no time in putting Brighton under pressure here.

Good chances were forged inside the first few minutes of this match, with both Viktor Gyokeres and Bukayo Saka testing their resolve early on. Then, the home team did find a goal on the quarter-hour mark via a powerful Martin Odegaard strike and they went close to adding to their lead before half-time.

Arteta is often (understandably) accused of setting his men up with the handbrake on and, thus, he seems to stifle their many offensive riches. However, he gave the team licence to push forward here and it allowed the likes of Odegaard and Saka to embrace their creative side – it worked; they were both quite influential.

How long it lasts remains to be seen – the stodginess might well return for the Villa visit on Tuesday – but it was refreshing to watch and proved effective, so perhaps the boss might be persuaded to use that approach more often.  

Negative #1: More injury pain

Better injury luck might have ranked high on Arteta’s Christmas letter but, on this evidence, Santa did not have him on the nice list.

On Saturday, Arsenal went one better than their usual ‘one-in, one out’ injury policy by embracing a medical double whammy: Jurrien Timber failed to make the matchday squad while Riccardo Calafiori picked up a knock in the warm-up.

The boss said post-match that Calafiori simply “wasn’t comfortable” and Timber “landed awkwardly” so neither absence sounds like it will be long-term at least. But, still, it is typical of this campaign that fans cannot enjoy the sight of Gabriel returning to the fold without having to fret about the next big injury problem.

Hopefully all of Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel and Calafiori will be fit and ready to go for the Villa match.  

Positive #2: Martin Odegaard is back to his best

The captain has looked out of sorts in recent games but showed that magic touch to get Arsenal over the line against Brighton.

He recycled possession with his usual aplomb and linked up well with Saka as the Gunners carved the visitors open time and again – the pair even combining for that first goal. Odegaard also did very well to wriggle his way out of trouble and, on several occasions, sent Saka and Declan Rice away down the right flank.

It was not perfect; there were still times when he failed to spot runs or did not get the pass right. But they were small blots on an otherwise impressive copybook and, hopefully, it marks a sign of what is to come when he regains full fitness.

Negative #2: Wasteful up top

Always the same story for Arsenal.

Their spreadsheet makes for good reading: the Gunners had 18 shots in the match and, as per the X account The XG Philosophy, they recorded an xG of 3.07 compared to Brighton’s 0.92 (who does not love an xG stat?).

But, once again, they simply could not turn the ball home. Gyokeres spurned a glorious chance early on here while Gabriel Martinelli somehow fired well over from just a few yards out. Further to those efforts, Martin Zubimendi was denied by a Bart Verbruggen super save and Gabriel Jesus, at another point, took too long to get his shot away.

It was a familiar tale for the home fans and it resulted in a familiar game-state: Arsenal wastefulness left them hanging on to a slim, one-goal advantage and fans were left biting their nails as their team just about did enough for the win.

You suspect they cannot hold on for dear life in every match and come out the right side of it; Arteta needs to get them practicing their shooting ASAP.

Or maybe the opposition can just keep scoring for us?