Why Arsenal's defeat to Brighton will prove to be nothing more than an anomaly

Arsenal signed off for the longest mid-season international break of all time with a disappointing defeat away at Brighton, ending their run of nine consecutive Premier League wins.

The Gunners had started the new campaign in fine form, winning each of their first seven matches across all competitions. The start was so good that it began to feel too good to last, and this ultimately proved to be the case.

Brighton got the better of Mikel Arteta's side, comfortably beating the Gunners in what was a bad day at the office for the Premier League champions. Most fans and pundits expect Arsenal to bounce back immediately, with a home game against Leeds after the international break providing them with an opportunity to do so.

However, many Gunners supporters are concerned that this result at the Amex could be the catalyst for a downfall, while many harbour concerns that this performance has exposed cracks in their defensive solidity, as well as highlighting attacking deficiencies.

Here's why this isn't the case, and the game on the south coast will prove to be nothing more than an anomaly.

Arsenal got somewhat unlucky against Brighton

There's no denying that Arsenal were well beaten by the Seagulls. They struggled to deal with Fabian Hurzeler's press, were unable to create many clear-cut chances of their own and deservedly walked away with no points.

That said, that's not to say that there wasn't an element of misfortune about the defeat, and that there was anything systemically concerning about the display.

Brighton scored two goals from 0.36 expected goals in the first half at the Amex. They let fly from range twice and found the back of the net twice. This isn't a problem Arsenal are likely to continue to face moving forward. Sometimes teams score bangers, and this distorts the complexion of a match.

At 2-0 down in the Premier League, the game is almost always lost. Teams rarely find a way back from a two-goal deficit. Arsenal then conceded a third from a corner before the hourmark, which effectively ended the game.

Did Arsenal do enough to try and turn the game around? Probably not. Did they do enough when the match was at an even game state in the first half? Again, probably not.

However, the Premier League is hard, Brighton are a good team, and Arsenal had played a lot of fixtures at the beginning of the season. A rare off-day isn't something to be alarmed about, and the extent to which the performance was poor has been overstated, meaning it can be mostly ignored.

For Arsenal fans, it's annoying to lose, but the result was far from catastrophic.

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