Soaring Seagulls send Arsenal into a damaging nosedive

Gunners No 1 Aaron Ramsdale: 'People have to show what they are made of and if they are ready for the fight. I know I am, I know the lads are'

Arsenal's Cedric Soares and Bukayo Saka tussle with Leandro Trossard of Brighton at the Emirates Stadium

ONE week and two defeats have taken Arsenal from top four favourites to fears they face another spell in the European wilderness next season. The fourth Champions League spot is very much local rivals Tottenham's to lose now, a fact which makes this late-season slump even harder for Arsenal to stomach.

Manager Mikel Arteta has been here before – the architect of his own demise with random tactics and selection - and managed to turn things around, so it is too soon to write him and Arsenal off. But he has to work out how to cope better with the absence of injured left back Kieran Tierney and star midfielder Thomas Partey before this weekend's match at Southampton or a blip will turn into a crisis.

Forcing Granit Xhaka into the left back role was such a disaster – it made Arsenal weaker at the back and in midfield – Arteta abandoned the experiment at half-time. But it was his side's general lethargy and lack of courage and confidence that was more alarming for their manager.

Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale had no chance of keeping out unchallenged shots from Leo Trossard and the excellent Enoch Mwepu either side of half-time, but he claimed Martin Odegaard's 89th-minute response and his side's late late rally to nearly steal a point or better is an indication they will be alright. The England international refuted a suggestion they were clueless as to how to respond to last Monday's humiliating defeat at Crystal Palace and have lost their way.

He said: “Not really. We just do the same thing we have been doing all season. Two games on the spin we have lost, but we don’t shy away from the way we try to play. We are not going to shy away from the challenge. It was supposed to be our bounce-back game but now we have got another game to try to bounce back and win and I know we are good enough to do that.

“We have lost two games, it is not a crisis. We should have got a result against Brighton but people still speak to each other, people still perform and ultimately people were still running in the 96th minute trying to make an equaliser. As I said, nobody is hiding away or anything like that. It is just two bad games and two bad performances.

“People have to show what they are made of and if they are ready for the fight. I know I am, I know the lads are - we have just got to see that on the pitch and the training ground. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. And can’t blame others - we have to look at ourselves first and foremost in the mirror and then listen to what the manager has to say in terms of detail and analysis. We have to trust what he is saying, and go again.” 

A quick fix for Arteta would be to sneak Brighton midfielder Enock Mwepu into the Arsenal training ground. The Zambia midfielder hobbled off towards the end of his first start since a January hamstring injury, but the damage was done by then.

Mwepu, a huge fan of Chelsea's N'Golo Kante, set up the opening goal, after Xhaka went AWOL in defence, and his half-volley for the winner was sublime. The 24-year-old spent the rest of the game breaking up Arsenal's possession and dictating the flow of the match.

“I think if you are playing against these teams that have really good quality players you have to be more aggressive than them," he said. "That is what you try to do. You have to win every ball and battle every challenge and they had no chance to play through us because we defended well and communicated as a group and I think that worked well. That was the tactical point that we did very well.” 

Brighton's next trip to London, ironically, is down the road to Tottenham for Saturday's lunch time kick off. It would be remarkable if they could take this form into that match too, but Mwepu thinks they can.

He added: “Normally we would be focused on our own goals but I can promise we will go into the game and do our best to win again. That would be good for Arsenal, I guess.” 

ARSENAL: Ramsdale 6, Soares 5, White 6, Gabriel 5, Xhaka 6, Saka 5, Lokonga 6, Smith Rowe 5 (Nketiah 62), Odegaard 6, Martinelli 6 (Pepe 74), Lacazette 5. 

Subs not used: Leno, Holding, Tavares, Elneny, Azeez, Swanson, Hutchinson.

BRIGHTON: Sanchez 6, Cucurella 6, Dunk 6, Bissouma 6 (Lallana 74), Mac Allister 6, Trossard 7 (Webster 85), Mwepu 8 (Lamptey 77), Gross 6, Welbeck 6, Caicedo 6, Veltman 6. 

Subs not used: Steele, Maupay, Alzate, March, Offiah, Sarmiento.

Referee: David Coote 5