● Arsenal v Chelsea, Sunday 6 September 2026, Emirates Stadium, 16:30 BST kick-off. Stats correct at time of publication.
Why this game matters
Two games into the season, both sides are unbeaten in the Premier League — but they've got there in very different ways. Arsenal are defending champions built on control: composed, hard to break down, winners of the title last season and still playing like it. Chelsea are something else entirely right now — eleven new signings this summer, a new manager, and an early identity built on attacking fluency rather than control, with seven goals already in their opening two league games. Sunday is the first real test of whether that approach holds up against one of the league's genuine title contenders.
Havertz faces his old club
Kai Havertz spent three seasons at Chelsea after his move from Bayer Leverkusen in 2020, before Arsenal made him Mikel Arteta's first signing of the summer in June 2023 for a reported £65m. Sunday is another instalment in a fixture he now knows from both sides of the pitch.
The managerial match-up tells the same story as the two squads. Arteta, deep into his sixth season in charge and building on last year's title win, represents continuity and control — the same core group, the same defensive discipline, just sharper for another year together. Alonso, only two competitive games into his own Chelsea rebuild, represents the opposite: wholesale change, a reshaped squad, and an emphasis on quick, attacking football over the settled structure Arsenal have spent years building. Arteta struck a respectful tone in his pre-match press conference — "I love my players, and Alonso is capable of playing in various ways" — while Alonso has focused on the process rather than any one result: "very happy with the transfer window, phase one is completed."
Recent history
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 9 Premier League meetings with Chelsea (6 wins, 3 draws) — their longest run without defeat against the Blues since a 19-game unbeaten streak between 1995 and 2005. Widen it to all competitions and the run stretches to 11 matches unbeaten. Chelsea's last win at the Emirates in any competition came back in August 2021, a 2-0 win.
Zoom out further and the fixture's overall history is far more even than that current run suggests: Arsenal and Chelsea have met 215 times across all competitions, with Arsenal winning 87, Chelsea 66, and 62 drawn — a reminder that this is one of the Premier League's most historically balanced rivalries, even if the last decade has tilted sharply towards Arsenal.
Players to watch
Cole Palmer — the form player. Palmer needs just one more goal to reach 50 in the Premier League, a mark he'd reach in fewer than 100 appearances if he gets there on Sunday — a rate very few players in the competition's history have matched.
Bukayo Saka — the in-form winger. Saka has scored in consecutive Arsenal appearances heading into Sunday, and a home London derby against a Chelsea defence still finding its feet under a new manager is exactly the kind of game he thrives in.
João Pedro — the big-money forward. Signed from Brighton for £60m in 2025 after scoring 30 goals and adding 10 assists across two seasons there, he's now the kind of finisher Alonso will need if Chelsea are going to trouble an Arsenal side that hasn't conceded in the league yet this season.
The numbers
| Stat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Arsenal's unbeaten run vs Chelsea | 9 PL games (6W-3D) — longest since 1995–2005 |
| Chelsea's last Emirates win | August 2021, 2-0 |
| All-time head-to-head (all competitions) | Arsenal 87 – Chelsea 66 (62 draws, 215 meetings) |
● Sources: Arsenal.com, Chelsea FC. Stats correct at time of publication.
The big question
Can Chelsea's early attacking fluency under Alonso be enough to end a run that stretches back nine Premier League meetings — or does Arsenal's control, home advantage, and a point to prove from Havertz make it ten in a row against a Chelsea side still working out who they are?