Is Arsenal’s title defence already under pressure after Brighton humiliation?

Arsenal’s devastating and unexpected 3-0 defeat to Brighton has inevitably raised questions about our title defence. It is obviously very early in the season, and one defeat certainly doesn’t decide where the Premier League trophy will end up, but after what we witnessed at the Amex, I think there are reasons for Arsenal supporters to be concerned.

Arsenal cannot afford too many performances like Brighton

The Gunners won the league for the first time in 22 years back in May, and naturally we are hoping to retain that piece of silverware next year. However, as we know, winning titles can be defined by very small margins.

I don’t think it’s fair to expect Arsenal to go through the whole season undefeated, but it is crucial that we don’t start dropping too many points early on, particularly when our title rivals Manchester City have maintained their 100% start to the season.

Arsenal simply didn’t show up against the Seagulls.

On paper, this was a game we should have been capable of winning, yet we didn’t even score or produce the sort of fightback that we have seen from this team in recent times.

It still feels crazy writing that Arsenal lost 3-0 to Brighton. The last time we lost by that scoreline was more than three years ago and, ironically, it was the Seagulls who beat us on that occasion too.

I don’t want to start talking about some sort of “Brighton curse”, but it certainly felt like one today!

More importantly, we now need to ground ourselves and make sure we show up in our next game.

One defeat doesn’t end a title challenge

Admittedly, last season Arsenal lost our third game of the campaign to Liverpool before eventually winning the title.

That was different, though. Liverpool were the reigning league champions for starters, and Arsenal also hadn’t won a league game at Anfield for more than 11 years.

Brighton was a different challenge. We beat them 1-0 last season and, although we have struggled against them in recent seasons, we had still managed to win at the Amex.

Perhaps Brighton are simply on a stronger course this season. They thrashed Aston Villa 4-0 on the opening Premier League weekend and are already only a couple of points behind us.

Even so, this was a very concerning afternoon for Arsenal.

One defeat is not enough to say our title defence is collapsing, particularly this early in the campaign. However, if we start dropping more points over the coming weeks, I will certainly begin worrying about whether the Premier League trophy will be returning to the Emirates.

Arsenal need to make sure Brighton was simply one terrible afternoon and respond immediately.

Liam Harding

We’ll have to wait until after the 3 week international break to see whether the Gunners can respond or not, when they welcome Leeds to the Emirates on October 10..

What do you think, Gooners? Was the Brighton defeat simply a bad day at the office, or are you already concerned about Arsenal’s title defence? Let us know in the comments below.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
ADMIN COMMENT

So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….

You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.

CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us through this link…

The post Is Arsenal’s title defence already under pressure after Brighton humiliation? appeared first on Just Arsenal News.