Arsenal's slaying of Brighton will feel like an elbow to gut for title rivals

The ruthless slaying of Brighton on opposition turf felt like a swift Arsenal elbow into the gut of their two title rivals for a more pertinent reason than the scoreline itself.

In the Premier League, Arsenal have scored the most goals (75), conceded the fewest (24) and kept the most cleansheets (14).

Yet it was the north London club’s form away from home which temporarily saw them slip from championship view.

Three of their four defeats in the league this season — Newcastle, Aston Villa and Fulham — were all on opposition turf.

Now, the Gunners are unbeaten in their last six away league matches — and it is this recent ability of picking up victories on the road which could well settle this tightest of title races.

Arsenal face Tottenham and Manchester United on enemy territory within their final four games. With Manchester City and Liverpool tussling with them at the top, wins in both games may be non-negotiable if the Gunners are to lift a first title since 2004.

When asked if Saturday’s convincing 3-0 victory increases the team’s belief going into a tough finale of away fixtures, Mikel Arteta said: ‘Yes it does. This is a really, really tough place to come and win but also in the manner and the formula we have done it. Hopefully yes, we can carry on doing what we are doing.

‘We know that we are going to have to play (well) as we have won 10 and drawn one of the last eleven and are not top of the league.

‘It is like, “Come on!”, but this is the level and this is why we have to improve so quickly as a team to try to be there.’

It was not a just an ordinary away win, too. The scars of losing 3-0 here in May, amid Arsenal’s implosion of an eight-point to relinquish last season’s title to Man City, will still have been present in