Brighton vs Arsenal: Player ratings as Gunners get pecked by the Seagulls

Arsenal suffered their first loss of the season against Brighton and Hove Albion and, from the visitor's perspective, it was an ugly one.

In previous matches this season, the Gunners have shown no signs of frailty, but they looked like a relegation-fodder team out there today. Brighton deserve a lot of respect for the way they set up, because they genuinely made Arsenal look stupid, but this story is not about the home team.

Here's how each Arsenal player stacked up on a pretty ugly afternoon on the South Coast.

Brighton xx-xx Arsenal player ratings

Goalkeeper & defenders

David Raya (GK) - 3.5/10. Raya was caught off guard and poorly positioned for both of Brighton's first-half openers. He also gave the ball away on one too many occasions. For Brighton's third, he complained to the referee for seemingly no reason. Definitely wasn't his usual self out there today.

Jurrien Timber (RB) - 5.5/10. Timber certainly defended better than White could, but it must be said that Saka clearly missed playing with White. He struggles to maintain that same synergy with Timber, which is neither of their fault. He was understandably hooked off at the hour mark.

Gabriel (CB) - 4/10. Backed off and gave Charalampos Kostoulas way too much space to score Brighton's second goal. He also went to ground way too easily, but other than that, his one-on-one defending was just fine. He also stood idle for the second-half corner, which gave Brighton their third goal. He wasn't the only guilty player, but he could have marked a man.

Ezri Konsa (CB) - 4/10. A lot of the spotlight was on him, for all the wrong reasons. Involved in plenty of Arsenal's play, he was largely to blame for a lot of the pressure Arsenal received and succumbed to.

Riccardo Calafiori (LB) - 5.5/10. He was available as an outlet for Arsenal and, unlike many of his teammates, he did nothing to harm his reputation this season. Let's face it, though, he also did nothing to build on his form.

Midfielders

Bruno Guimaraes (CM) - 3.5/10. Arsenal's worst player in the first half. Out of possession, he provided the same help to his teammates as I am writing these player ratings: zilch. Lasted just an hour before he was taken off.

Declan Rice (CM) - 4.5/10. He looked fed up with his teammates and, to be fair, we can't blame him. However, he did very little to help Arsenal out. He was pinned back as a centre-back out of possession, but it wasn't a great showing for Rice.

Martin Odegaard (CM) - 4/10. He was the captain, which is vital context. If the whole team crumbles, you look towards the captain, just as you would when a sink ships. An absent display from a player who has otherwise been very good. Those performances mean nothing when you decide to drop a 4.5/10, of course.

Forwards

Bukayo Saka (RW) - 4.5/10. It was almost like he was allergic to being onside throughout the first half. Played a few good corners, but other than that, he was wide of the mark.

Kai Havertz (CF) - 6/10. Mostly fed off scraps for the first half, but his physical play helped Arsenal out on a few occasions. He was Arsenal's best player, but let's face it, it's not an award he'll write hime about.

Christos Tzolis (LW) - 4/10. Looked completely out of his depth throughout the entirety of the match. He let himself down in one-on-one situations. The only positive was that he showed some nice touches in Arsenal's counterattacks, but they didn't amount to anything.

Substitutes

Mikel Merino (on for Bruno Guimaraes at 60') - 5/10.

Martin Zubimendi (on for Jurrien Timber at 60') - 5/10.

Viktor Gyokeres (on for Martin Odegaard at 73') - 4.5/10.

Eberechi Eze (on for Christos Tzolis at 73') - 4.5/10.

Max Dowman (on for Bukayo Saka at 80') - N/A.

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