Fabian Hurzeler slammed Arsenal's time-wasting against Brighton but their ball in play time is above average this season

Fabian Hurzeler sensationally accused Arsenal of "making their own rules" and applying time-wasting tactics as they beat Brighton at the Amex Stadium, so were his accusations justified?

Bukayo Saka's early goal proved decisive in a stormy game on the south coast during which Brighton's fans and head coach became incensed over perceived delays by the visitors.

After Brighton were unable to turn their dominance of possession into goals, Hurzeler vented his fury in his press conference, slamming Arsenal's approach, saying "only one side tried to play football" and calling for rules to be introduced around time-wasting.

Hurzeler was not alone in feeling the game was an unattractive spectacle. Few would argue otherwise. But Arsenal's average percentage of ball in play time of 55.6 per cent this season is actually above the Premier League average, and only slightly lower than Brighton's 56.1 per cent. What else do the numbers tell us?

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How much time did Arsenal waste?

Hurzeler had raised the issue of time-wasting before the game, accusing Arsenal of taking more than a minute to prepare for corners in games when they are in front.

That complaint was justified, with the Gunners have taken the longest over corners on average of all Premier League clubs this season, according to Opta, at 44.5 seconds.

At the Amex Stadium, though, factoring corners, free-kicks and throws, Arsenal's average restart time was 31.4 seconds.

Opta say that across 285 Premier League games this season, there have been 195 instances of teams taking longer over their restarts.

Arsenal's 31.4 second average against Brighton sits only just above their season average of 30.2 seconds per delay.

There are five Premier League sides who take longer over their restarts on average than Arsenal in Leeds, Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Brentford and Sunderland. Brighton, meanwhile, rank as the second-quickest to restart play at 26.5 seconds.

Game state is an important factor, given a team leading is more likely to try to slow the tempo than a team needing a goal.

Arsenal, who were in front from the ninth minute at the Amex Stadium, have spent 45.4 per cent of the time leading in the Premier League this season, second only to Manchester City. Brighton, by contrast, have only been leading for 23.8 per cent of the time.

While Arsenal's average delay time was not especially high during their win over Brighton, the volume of delays certainly made for a stop-start encounter which suited the visitors as they sought to protect their lead following Saka's goal.

Opta say Arsenal's total of 59 delays was the eighth-highest by any side in a Premier League game this season. Their total time delay of 30 minutes and 51 seconds was the 22nd highest.

What happened with Raya?

Hurzeler singled out Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya over time-wasting. "I ask one question, did you see in a Premier League game a goalkeeper going down three times?" he said.

But watching the game back, Sky Sports only found two instances of Raya going to ground.

The first came in the 37th minute, when Kaoru Mitoma was penalised for putting an arm across the goalkeeper as, ironically, he motioned to take a quick throw having claimed a Diego Gomez cross.

The delay to take the subsequent free-kick totalled 41 seconds, but included a conversation between Raya and referee Chris Kavanagh after the goalkeeper had quickly got back to his feet.

The other instance of Raya going down came in the 58th minute, when he received treatment following a save from Georginio Rutter.

The delay was much longer on that occasion, totalling two minutes and eight seconds, but that was largely because Arsenal made two substitutions, introducing Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard, who were already waiting to come on when Raya went to ground.

How long was the ball in play?

Hurzeler also raged against the ball in play time. "One game, you play 60 minutes, and then when you play against Arsenal, only 50 minutes, so it's 10 minutes difference," he said. "Is this for what the supporters are paying for? Do you get my point?"

Nobody would argue that Wednesday's game was easy on the eye but the ball-in-play time at the Amex Stadium was actually 53 minutes and 58 seconds, according to Opta, accounting for 53.5 per cent of the 100 minutes and 54 seconds played.

The number still seems low, albeit not nearly as low as Hurzeler suggested, but it is worth noting it is actually less than two per cent below the Premier League average of 55.3 per cent this season.

Across the nine Premier League fixtures played on Tuesday and Wednesday, there were two games in which the ball in play time was in fact lower than in Arsenal's victory at Brighton.

In Newcastle's 2-1 win over Manchester United at St James' Park, the ball in play time stood at 53 seconds and 17 seconds. In Sunderland's win at Leeds, it was down at just 52 minutes and two seconds.

While Hurzeler's comments implied low ball in play times were unique to Arsenal, the overall Premier League numbers show it is a division-wide issue. According to Opta, the average ball in play time this season is the second-lowest in any campaign since 2006/07.

And as shown at the start of this article, Arsenal actually sit above average among Premier League clubs for ball in play time this season, and only slightly below Brighton.

Hurzeler is of course justified in arguing that Arsenal tried to disrupt the flow of the game on Wednesday night. But time-wasting, and a reduction in ball in play time, is evident up and down the Premier League, more so than in any season since 2009/10.

Following an invaluable win at the Amex Stadium, the debate will matter little to Arsenal if the season ends in Premier League glory.

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Fabian Hurzeler slammed Arsenal's time-wasting against Brighton but their ball in play time is above average this season