Wasteful Arsenal win comfortably, Rob Holding gets a helping hand, Brighton's answer may lie in Glenn Murray

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Arsene Wenger will have been pleased with the manner of the dominant 2-0 victory over Brighton, but there was a time not so long ago that Arsenal would have put this side to the sword.

That’s not a slight on Brighton’s ability, but they set out incredibly defensive with as many as 10 players in the penalty area inside the first half-hour. Any team that does not try to attack Arsenal’s frail defence opens itself up to repeated attacks, and that’s exactly what happened at the Emirates.

However, Alexandre Lacazette, Alexis Sanchez, Alex Iwobi and Aaron Ramsey were all guilty of missing chances, and on another day the Gunners would have scored more than double what they achieved on Sunday afternoon.

Hector Bellerin is definitely enjoying his role as a wing-back more than he did when playing as a more defensively-minded right-back, but he still needs to improve his game going backwards if he is to reach his full potential.

The sight of the Spaniard joining the attack is one to behold for the Arsenal faithful as his pace and deft touch opens up doors for the Gunners on the right. However, his best games regularly come against inferior opposition, and while he showed the good side of his game on Sunday, he is yet to stamp his authority on the biggest fixtures.

Brighton last month made their loan move for Tim Krul permanent from Newcastle, with the Dutch goalkeeper expected to force his way in to the first-team at some point this season. However, on this evidence it’s easy to see why Chris Hughton has stuck with Mathew Ryan.

The Australian made a number of regulation saves in the first half as Arsenal took aim at his goal, and as he frustrated Sanchez, Lacazette and Iwobi, he kept Brighton in the thick of it even after the goal.

However, it was his reaction save from Aaron Ramsey that came from a swift Arsenal counter-attack that really caught the eye, and the 25-year-old is certainly staking his claim as a Premier League goalkeeper, even if everything isn’t going Brighton’s way.

The last time Rob Holding graced the Premier League, he was hauled off in the 4-0 demolition against Liverpool that raised serious questions about his Arsenal future. This was a far more enjoyable outing as he saw out the 90 minutes, but in reality he had little to do.

Shkodran Mustafi appeared to take the young centre-back under his wing as he came over to the right of the back-three whenever there was a sign of danger – something he did not do with Nacho Monreal. Holding also had Bellerin playing in front of him that gave him an outlet whenever play got away from him due to the Spaniard’s pace, but while this is not the answer to whether his future lies at the Emirates, it will have been a good boost to his confidence.

The line-up of Izzy Brown, Jose Izquierdo and Solly March certainly looked appealing on paper, but is it the combination that Brighton need to stay up this season? The answer might lie in the veteran striker Glenn Murray, who from the moment he was introduced caused the Arsenal defence plenty of problems.

Murray saw a good header flash wide as he stole in ahead of Mustafi, and having done it all before with Crystal Palace, Hughton may well be tempted to put his faith in the fit-again striker rather than the exciting young prospect of Brown.