Cesc Fabregas has warned Arsenal cannot afford to make costly mistakes if the Gunners are to challenge for the title.
Arsene Wenger's side swept past Champions League new boys Braga 6-0 on Wednesday night, taking their goals tally to 16 in just three matches at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal head to Sunderland tomorrow, where they lost 1-0 last November, and are expected to face another stern test of their championship credentials.
While there is no doubt the Gunners are awesome in attack at their free-flowing best, question marks remain over consistency in defence.
With Thomas Vermaelen battling to recover from an Achilles problem which has seen him miss the last two matches, new recruits Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci are likely again to be partnered in central defence.
The Frenchmen performed well under the stresses of Bolton's physical approach last week, but were caught out when a weak back header from Koscielny allowed the visitors to set up an equaliser.
While Arsenal went on to win the match comfortably, Fabregas knows it could have proved a costly error.
"We made a mistake at the back towards the end of the first half and were punished - we cannot afford to do that at this level, and it shows there are still things to improve on," said the Gunners captain.
"In our defending as a team, we will need to get a little better to be at the top."
Fabregas is looking back to his best after the World Cup, having netted a brace in a virtuoso display against Braga.
The Spain international, though, maintains it is the overall team display which always takes precedent.
"After being disappointed with my performance at Blackburn, I felt better on Saturday against Bolton," the 23-year-old said.
"Physically in terms of how I played, I was happier - but I would rather focus on the team, because the performance overall was a good one."
Arsenal reported no fresh injury problems following Wednesday night's comfortable victory.
However, Wenger is conscious of the demands on his players, and so could shuffle things around, as he did for the last league game against Bolton, so winger Tomas Rosicky and England full-back Kieran Gibbs could be involved having been unused substitutes in midweek, while Mexican forward Carlos Vela made an impression with a late brace after coming off the bench.
"It is important for our season that we are capable of going from Champions League to the Premier League," the Gunners boss said.
"From Wednesday night to Saturday afternoon it is short, but we can rotate a little bit."
Sunderland's £13million striker Asamoah Gyan looks set to lead the attack for the home side after scoring on his debut in the 1-1 draw against Wigan.
Wenger admits he was impressed by the efforts of the Ghana frontman in South Africa this summer.
"I looked at him especially during the World Cup," the Arsenal manager said.
"He had spells at Rennes last year where he didn't play and some periods where he was absolutely outstanding.
"When I saw him at the World Cup I found him extremely interesting and a good player, but at the time we already had our strikers so I was not looking for him."
Wenger had landed his main target before the World Cup, and Marouane Chamakh has impressed with three goals already.
Given Theo Walcott, Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner are still sidelined, the Moroccan's quick transition has been most timely.
"I have settled in quickly and things couldn't have gone much better from that point of view," Chamakh said on www.fifa.com.
"I gave myself six months or maybe even a year to settle down here and I am ahead of schedule in that respect.
"I am delighted with how it is going, although training has been very tough for me.
"I don't think I have ever worked as hard as this physically, but here I am experiencing everything I had envisaged about Arsenal and the English league.
"The atmosphere in the stadiums, the open and attacking football and the standard of the team are just amazing.
"I am getting involved in the games and am scoring too.
"I just want to do my bit in each game and to help the team win."
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