Arsenal rivals put on notice as 'worrying' title claim made after Hull City win

Premier League title hopefuls should be concerned that Arsenal are already six points clear at the summit despite struggling to hit top form, says Danny Murphy.

The Gunners finally beat Manchester City to the title last term after three consecutive second-placed finishes to end an agonising 22-year wait for glory and were swiftly installed as the red-hot favourites to retain their newly acquired domestic crown.

Mikel Arteta's men have quickly found their way back to the top of the table and Saturday's unspectacular 1-0 win over Hull City opened up a six point gap over City, who may also face a significant points penalty after being found guilty of breaching financial rules.

Arsenal have so far managed to accumulate a healthy advantage without hitting the heights of their performances last season - and Murphy feels that is bad news for any side with aspirations of wrestling the title away from the champions.

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"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," Murphy said on Match of the Day.

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

The former Liverpool and England midfielder added: "There’s more to come from this team, make no qualms about that. I think they’re in a wonderful position and a really great place."

Jamie Redknapp echoed similar sentiments after Manchester City dropped points, falling to a third defeat in a row at the hands of Nottingham Forest. He claims that Brighton could yet emerge as Arsenal's biggest challengers - but feels Arteta's men will runaway with the league as the season goes on.

"If you look at the league table, I think right now, probably the one you’d point to, and I never thought I’d say this at the start of the year, but it’s Brighton," he said on Sky Sports.

"Arsenal have got Saliba coming back, the players they’ve got defensively, you’d never see Arsenal look as open as we saw Manchester City look [against Forest].

"I don’t really see anything else other than Arsenal running away with this title at the moment. I know it’s really early but I just think they’re so much better than everyone else in every single area.

"It’s the worst-case scenario for every team, when you see a team like that. Today they grind out a result; I just don’t see anybody else."