The fact that Arsenal are not invincible has clearly come as a bit of a surprise to some people.
They were thumped by Brighton at the weekend, while Brentford hammered Chelsea to go fourth and Bournemouth narrowly lost to Liverpool.
Advertisement
The three little Bs, who I wrote about more than once last season, are at it again, fearlessly going for blood against the big dogs.
Both Brighton and Brentford will sit in the top four for the three weeks of the international break, with Bournemouth finding their feet under a new manager.
Their success should now not be surprising. In the last four seasons Brighton have averaged an eighth-place league finish – astonishing for a smaller provincial club outwith the major cities.
Arsenal‘s three-goal capitulation was initially a shock, but should it still be a surprise down at Brighton?
This season, the Seagulls have also scored three against Chelsea and Manchester United, four against Tromso and Aston Villa while slapping Coventry with five.
Advertisement
This does not look like a lucky run of form or a purple patch on the pitch; this looks like who they are now.
Bournemouth were sixth last season and I think Brighton could do even better than that this time round.
The likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Villa are each capable of getting their acts together after early stumbles, but the chance of reaching the Champions League has never seemed so achievable for the more pocket-sized Premier League clubs.
During the second half of the recent Carabao Cup demolition of Manchester United at Old Trafford, I started to think “this team is very special”.
Advertisement
The Reds had a few youngsters playing that night, but after going 2-0 down Fabian Hurzeler’s men played some of the cleverest, quickest, most intricate passing football I have seen in years.
The incredible pace with which they pressed the opposition only added to the heady, unstoppable mix.
Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you’re outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
