Danny Murphy makes 'worrying' Arsenal claim after Hull victory

Arsenal edged out Hull to claim a six-point advantage at the top of the Premier League table (Picture: Reuters)

Danny Murphy says Arsenal’s title challengers should be very ‘worried’ that the champions find themselves six points clear at the top despite not ‘really playing that well’ for much of the season.

Arsenal increased their imperious lead at the summit thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 victory at home to Hull on Saturday, in which Martin Odegaard scored the only goal of the game to continue his outstanding start to the campaign.

At the City Ground, meanwhile, Manchester City were stunned by a Liam Delap-inspired Nottingham Forest to fall further behind the Gunners in what was their third successive defeat in the Premier League.

High-flying Brighton – the only team to get the better of Arsenal – will hope to close the gap when they lock horns with Brentford at the Amex Stadium this afternoon.

‘These numbers here (pictured below), 27 points after ten games, that club normally wins the title,’ ex-Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder Murphy said while addressing Arsenal’s title hopes on Match of the Day.

‘I think what’s worrying for everyone else is they’ve got this amount of wins, this amount of points, and they haven’t really played that well.

‘Maybe in the Chelsea game they were outstanding but they’ve just got over the line other than that.’

Arsenal have accumulated 27 points from a possible 30 (Picture: Match of the Day)

Odegaard’s 72nd-minute strike proved decisive at the Emirates (Picture: Getty)

In a rather ominous warning to Arsenal’s rivals, Murphy said he expected Mikel Arteta’s men to grow and improve as the season goes on.

‘There’s more to come from this team, make no qualms about that,’ the former England international added.

‘I think they’re in a wonderful position and a really great place.’

Arsenal’s rivals should be ‘worried’ about their start to the campaign, says Murphy (Picture: Match of the Day)

Sat alongside Murphy in the Match of the Day studio, former Lioness Steph Houghton made it clear she was similarly impressed when it came to Arsenal’s start to the season.

On the back of another summer of heavy investment, the former Manchester City and Arsenal defender believes Arteta has built a formidable squad more than capable of backing up their title win.

‘It’s obvious how much quality Arsenal already had in their squad and with Arteta being there for a number of years and they’ve added two or three more players this season,’ Houghton explained.

The champions have faltered just once in the top flight this term (Picture: Focus Images Ltd/Shutterstock)

‘When you have an environment that is really stable and with Arteta, you know what jobs you need to do as a player.