Roberto De Zerbi admits Brighton deserved to lose their match against Arsenal on Sunday, arguing that the Gunners are the league’s best team right now.

Arsenal came out 2-0 winners against Brighton on Sunday, with Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz scoring the goals to secure their side three points.

The win took Arsenal back to the top of the league, at least temporarily, with Liverpool to play Manchester United later in the day.

But it was also important to end a run of a couple of games without a win, with the Gunners having lost to Aston Villa and drawn with PSV Eindhoven in their last two.

In the end, it was a dominant performance from Mikel Arteta’s side, and a win which was very much earned.

Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi didn’t make any effort to deny that fact, suggesting that Arsenal have been the stand-out team in the league this season.

“I think we deserved to lose,” De Zerbi said. “Arsenal played much better than us. They deserved to win the game.

“There was a too-big strength difference between the two teams. They played a great game.

“We suffered a lot. I’m proud because we defended well, we fought in a good way. But today, to be honest, they played better, much better.

“Sometimes we have to be honest and [give] congratulations to Arsenal. I think they are the best team in the Premier League this season.”

Arsenal ended up taking 26 shots to Brighton’s six, putting nine of those chances on target and scoring with two of them.

Arteta will want his side to be more clinical in the future, but he can have no complaints about the way the team controlled the game and created those opportunities.

Arsenal will travel to Liverpool next, in a top-of-the-table clash to round out the pre-Christmas fixture list.