Keown Sizes Up Arsenal's Title Credentials After Edgy Brighton Victory

Arsenal's hard-fought victory at the Amex has sent them clear at the top of the Premier League, and Martin Keown reckons the Gunners have transformed themselves into genuine title favourites—though the pundit urged caution before anyone gets too carried away.

Bukayo Saka's deflected effort handed Mikel Arteta's men an early foothold, and they held firm defensively to secure all three points on Wednesday. With Manchester City stumbling to a shock draw against Nottingham Forest at the Etihad, Arsenal now sit seven points ahead of the champions.

The result prompted Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler to take aim at Arsenal's approach, declaring he would never adopt such a pragmatic method. Yet Keown acknowledged the significance of the evening's events, telling TNT Sports: "It's a massively significant night in the title race. Looking at that now, Arsenal have become huge favourites."

He did temper expectations, though. "But there's hardly anything in it. Every game is really tough, it's going to go right to the wire. Don't get carried away. That was a great step in the right direction but it's only one game. It can quickly disappear so you focus on the next match."

Gabriel emerged as the standout performer in the absence of regular partner William Saliba, with Keown lavishing praise on the Brazilian's display. "Gabriel's performance at the back was absolutely immense," he said. The introduction of Kai Havertz and Riccardo Calafiori from the bench also drew Keown's approval, with both offering Arsenal greater control as the match wore on.

Declan Rice, however, received less glowing reviews. Fresh from a howler in the North London derby against Tottenham, the midfielder's tentative showing drew criticism from Keown. "It was bit nervy at times from Declan Rice," he noted, though he acknowledged the overall result represented an "unbelievable" outcome for the club.

"It was tortuous to watch at times," Keown added, capturing the tension that permeated proceedings.

Rob Green, the former England goalkeeper, offered a blunter assessment on BBC Radio 5 Live. Arsenal had "played badly" but wouldn't lose sleep over it, he suggested. "Arsenal can keep playing badly and winning all they like," Green said. "It's the others that are faltering."

He highlighted the contrasting fortunes at the top. "Manchester City are faltering. And you just look at this Arsenal side and how they go about winning games, they manage to just grind out results and that's all they've done tonight."

Green felt Arsenal had been fortunate, observing that few players could claim a genuinely strong showing. "There's not one player that can turn around and say they had a good game, except maybe Hincapie and maybe one or two others defensively. They don't care, they won."