Brighton 0-0 Arsenal: Player ratings as Gunners held to frustrating draw

A wasteful Brighton were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw with Arsenal on Saturday evening.

At a sodden Amex Stadium, the hosts dominated a sloppy Arsenal side. With Leandro Trossard dropping centrally to outnumber Arsenal's double pivot, Brighton picked their way through the supposedly in-form visitors throughout the first half.

As has often been the case this season, Brighton's biggest chances came from set pieces. Neal Maupay whipped in a cross from a half-cleared corner after 20 minutes which Aaron Ramsdale (perhaps understandably) spilled to the feet of Lewis Dunk who (less forgivingly) blazed over six yards out. Somehow the 6'7 Dan Burn went unnoticed in Arsenal's penalty area, from another corner, given all manner of space to steer a header over the bar from close-range.

Amid Brighton's waves of wind, rain and pressure, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brushed the outside of the post with a chance, sandwiched between those efforts, carved out by Bukayo Saka.

Brighton's proactive approach stifled Arsenal's passing game and sparked openings for themselves. However, in a return to their wasteful form of last season, Brighton didn't aim one of their numerous chances on target until the 80th minute.

Arsenal showed flickers of improvement as the contest drew to a close but struggled to even create the chances Brighton were at least wasting.

Brighton player ratings

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Robert Sanchez (GK) - 6/10 - Carried out what little he had to do without much fuss.

Shane Duffy (CB) - 7/10 - Aerially supreme in both boxes.

Lewis Dunk (CB) - 6/10 - Missed a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring in the first half but scarcely troubled in his own box.

Dan Burn (CB) - 4/10 - Keen to get touch-tight to Saka at every given opportunity but repeatedly exposed when sucked into a sprint.

2. Midfielders & wing-backs

Joel Veltman (RWB) - 7/10 - Dovetailing high up his flank as Brighton repeatedly overloaded Arsenal down the wings.

Pascal Gross (CM) - 7/10 - Drifting out to the right in open play, Gross was the author of Brighton's array of sinister set pieces.

Adam Lallana (CM) - 7/10 - Breaking into the box while also knitting the play together in midfield.

Jakub Moder (CM) - 5/10 - Hovering in and out of the front line, the Poland international didn't quite exert the same threat as his teammates.

Marc Cucurella (LWB) - 8/10 - Thriving down the left with his wild rain-soaked mane barely slowing him down, Brighton's summer arrival was a constant threat in the final third.

3. Forwards

Leandro Trossard (ST) - 7/10 - Involved at the source of the vast amount of Brighton's threat as he drifted all over the pitch.

Neal Maupay (ST) - 5/10 - Against one of his favoured foes (the scorer of two previous winners at Arsenal's expense) Maupay repeatedly tried to add another in spectacular, but ultimately wayward, fashion.

4. Substitutes

Alexis Mac Allister (FW) - N/A

Solly March (RW) - N/A

Arsenal player ratings

5. Goalkeeper & defenders

Aaron Ramsdale (GK) - 5/10 - Redeemed his shaky slip with a crucial paw away on the dive ahead of Maupay late on.

Takehiro Tomiyasu (RB) - 2/10 - Led a merry dance by Brighton's effervescent Cucurella in easily his least inspired outing for Arsenal thus far.

Ben White (CB) - 4/10 - Up against his former side, White showed spurts of skittishness in a shaky display.

Gabriel Magalhaes (CB) - 5/10 - Never one to shirk an aerial challenge but often outnumbered by Brighton's vertically gifted stable of set piece assailants.

Kieran Tierney (LB) - 4/10 - Penned back far more often than his normal attacking instincts place him on the pitch.

6. Midfielders

Thomas Partey (CM) - 5/10 - Too often guilty of impatiently ending rare spells of Arsenal possession with hugely ambitious attempts from range when he has the passing range to punish opponents.

Albert Sambi Lokonga (CM) - 4/10 - Coming in for the injured Granit Xhaka, Sambi often looked overrun by the blur of blue inevitably swarming around him.

Martin Odegaard (AM) - 3/10 - Struggled to exert any semblance of influence on proceedings during an evening where his touch strangely deserted him.

7. Forwards

Bukayo Saka (RW) - 7/10 - As ever, Arsenal's eternal bright spot even amid the miserable weather but worryingly limped off late in the game.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (ST) - 5/10 - Gamely haring around off the ball, Arsenal's captain was afforded so few opportunities to exert any threat when Arsenal rarely had possession he did well to at least hit the post.

Emile Smith Rowe (LW) - 6/10 - Flitting around the fringes of the contest from the left wing, but looked much more threatening (relatively) when moved to the middle for the final half-hour.

8. Substitutes

Nicolas Pepe (LW) - 5/10

Alexandre Lacazette (ST) - 6/10 - Played a delicate and decisive role in teeing Smith Rowe up for one of Arsenal's clearest chances of the night.

Ainsley Maitland-Nile (RW) - N/A