Arsenal were held by Brighton at the Emirates on Saturday, after a Declan Rice red card, to enter the international break with seven points from nine in the Premier League.

The Gunners started brightly, creating several early chances before Bukayo Saka won a long ball in the air and set Kai Havertz away to chip the goalkeeper and give Arsenal the lead on 38 minutes.

The Saka and Havertz link-up was on show once again, already setting each other up for three goals in three games this season.

And the pair look key to Arsenal’s attacking success, while the left-hand side continues to find its feet.

Leandro Trossard started the game on the left wing after an impressive cameo against Aston Villa but struggled to get involved and impact the game from the beginning.

It has been a regular challenge for Arsenal to get a tune out of the left-hand side and Mikel Arteta has a job on his hands finding the right left-back and left centre-midfield combination to support that wing.

Rice started at left centre-midfield and looked below his best, picking up a yellow card in the first half for a reckless challenge.

Early in the second half, yellow turned to red as Rice was dismissed for kicking the ball away before Brighton’s Joel Veltman kicked him in the calf.

It was a bizarre sending-off - which has been the subject of much discussion this week - and while it can be argued that Rice gave the referee a decision to make, it feels very harsh and we likely won’t see a similar decision again.

Despite that, Arsenal put in an impressive display, holding strong after Joao Pedro’s equaliser and offering a threat on the break with the Havertz and Saka partnership.

The Arsenal forwards created two good chances for themselves and may well have scored on another day.

It leaves Arsenal with seven points from nine heading into the break, ahead of trips to Tottenham and Manchester City on their return.

Losing Rice to suspension will hurt in the north London derby, especially with new signing Mikel Merino now out injured for two months due to a shoulder injury picked up in training.

Arteta has two weeks to figure out a game plan to beat Spurs.