Full Time
Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates, recovering from Morgan Rogers' lightning opener — in inside 90 seconds — to complete the turnaround. That's about as fast a start as an away side can dream of, and for a few minutes it looked like Chelsea might ride it all the way home, but Arsenal settled and turned the game on its head. It's a third straight win to open the season for Arsenal, who move up to 2nd on nine points, behind Manchester City only on goal difference. Chelsea drop to 4th on six points, picking up their first defeat of the campaign after two clean wins to start.
Pre-match Talking Points
Match talking points will appear here before kick-off.
Team Talking Points
-
1Arsenal are top of the table with 27 points from 10 games – nine wins and one defeat, which equals the best start to a league season in the club's history. They're five points clear of second-placed Brighton going into the international break, and they're the reigning champions, so the old 'nearly men' jokes have officially expired.
-
2Their last game was a 1-0 home win over Hull, settled by a Martin Ødegaard goal with about 18 minutes left. It wasn't pretty – the defence did most of the heavy lifting – but grinding out wins on an off day is exactly what title-winning sides do. Say 'they won ugly' and you'll sound like you watched it.
-
3The week before, Arsenal won at Anfield to go top. This week the Premier League's independent incidents panel ruled 4-1 that Jurrien Timber should have given away a penalty for pulling Alexander Isak's shirt in that game. Arsenal fans will tell you it all evens out over a season; Liverpool fans will not.
-
4Martin Zubimendi, the £60m midfielder who was a key part of last season's title win, hasn't started a single Premier League game this season, and Real Madrid, Atlético and Chelsea are reportedly sniffing around. He told Marca this week he's not been in contact with anyone and isn't close to leaving. Bring it up gently – it's a sore spot.
-
5Viktor Gyökeres is having a lovely international break: he's now scored in seven consecutive Nations League games for Sweden, a competition record. Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, has signed a new deal to 2030. Arsenal go to Newcastle on Saturday 21 November when the league returns – historically a ground where they find life awkward.
🍺
Top thing to say down the pub
Nine wins from ten is lovely, but the real test is St James' Park after the break – that's where Arsenal title seasons go to get nervous.
🚫
Avoid saying
"Arsenal always bottle it" – they're the defending champions and top by five points. Wheel that one out and everyone will assume you've been asleep since 2023.
-
1Chelsea limped into the international break after a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, settled by an Enzo Le Fée penalty in the first half. It dropped them to fifth, out of the Champions League places, and it was their fourth league defeat in ten games.
-
2Xabi Alonso – appointed in the summer on a four-year deal to revive things – didn't sugar-coat it, saying Chelsea 'didn't deserve more than probably one point' and lacked patience and quality in the final third. The honesty is refreshing; the stats are less so.
-
3Here's the worrying number: across games against Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United and Sunderland, Chelsea scored just one goal from open play. For a squad that cost what this one did, that's a lot of very expensive passing sideways.
-
4They've also been beaten 3-0 by Brentford this season, back in October. Chelsea fans would rather you didn't bring that one up, so maybe save it for when you want to change the subject quickly.
-
5There's still plenty of time – they're only two points off the top four, six behind second-placed Brighton. And they're not shy about January: reports this week say Chelsea are among the clubs monitoring Arsenal's unhappy midfielder Martin Zubimendi.
🍺
Top thing to say down the pub
One open-play goal in four games isn't what anyone had in mind when Xabi Alonso walked through the door – the break's come at a decent time for him.
🚫
Avoid saying
"Just sack the manager" – it's Chelsea, so it's the reflex joke, but Alonso's only been in the job since the summer – ten games is not a fair trial. Say it and you'll sound like you think it's still 2012.