Indispensable Lewis-Skelly thrives in new system

Myles Lewis-Skelly has made that holding midfield link position his own for reasons including his calmness under pressure, his hold-up strength, his ability to dribble past players one-v-one and his willingness to take risk - when deciding to dribble past a player or play direct passes for his attackers.

His effectiveness here has been noticed too by England boss Thomas Tuchel who, during this international break, has emulated Mikel Arteta's use of Lewis-Skelly.

For England it has been Elliot Anderson taking up the 'Declan Rice role' in the back three.

Given the demands of this role, part of the reason Arsenal may have struggled against Brighton was that Bruno Guimaraes took up this holding midfield position instead of Lewis-Skelly.

Fabian Hurzeler has drilled his Brighton side to play with high intensity, both on and off the ball. To play around their press requires superb technique, good positioning, the right timing of movements and an understanding of where team-mates may be.

These are things Guimaraes will get to grips with, given the time Lewis-Skelly has already had in this role, but being used in there against an effective Brighton man-to-man press was always going to be a difficult challenge.

Brighton's pressure meant Arsenal hesitated on the ball, forcing them to make decisions they normally wouldn't.

"You could see from the first throw-in, it was so clear. We put ourselves in trouble one, two, three times," Arteta said.

"We need to get out much quicker than that, and that's one of the biggest lessons we have to take from the game today."

After playing looser passes, Arsenal, known for their duelling, were beaten by a Brighton side that swarmed around the ball.

Read more on how Arteta's response to Brighton loss may shape Arsenal's next chapter here