Arsenal vs. Chelsea, Premier League: Preview, team news, how to watch
· Yahoo Sports
In the Premier Parity League, only four teams have come through the first two weeks without dropping points. After this weekend, there can only be two as two of them will meet at the Emirates on Sunday for a good old fashioned battle for London Supremacy.
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Arsenal broke their 22-year title drought last season. In those intervening two decades, Chelsea had won the Premier League five times: the only London club to do so. (Sadly, the last of those is now a decade old itself.) Chelsea’s rise to the top starting in 2004 was a symbolic and very real shift in power, dethroning the “Invincibles” who had won the league without losing a game the prior season. London was Blue.
It is now red again. Can we take it back? We can’t do so with just one game, but it would be a great start, especially considering that we’ve failed to beat them in eleven (11!) straight in all competitions, losing eight.
Only two teams seem to be rising above the parity in this early season, Arsenal and Manchester City. We are trying to get back into that elite group. Here’s a great chance to show those ambitions.
Date / Time: Sunday, September 6, 2026, 16.30 BST; 11:30am EDT; 9pm IST
Venue: Emirates Stadium, London
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (on pitch); Darren England (VAR)
Forecast: Sunny and quite warm; all the UV you’d ever want
On TV: Sky Sports Main Event (UK); USA, Telemundo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); Canal+ (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK), NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); JioHotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Arsenal team news: The Gunners won the league with just 85 points last season, one of the lowest winning totals in the 21st century. The 71 goals they scored was the second lowest total for the champions after Leicester City’s 68. It was a title built on defending and set pieces — they briefly flirted with Chelsea’s (surely unbeatable) record for fewest goals conceded in a season — and that’s the plan for this season as well. They are one of only two teams to not concede a goal so far.
As all good champions should, Arsenal approached the transfer window from a position of strength, adding proven talent in Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle and Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa, plus a promising young winger in Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge, who’s really caught the eye these first two weeks. Departing were the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, and the ever-annoying Leandro Trossard. Christian Nørgaard’s also left the team, after barely featuring in his twelve months there. All the former Chelsea crew are still around, including Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke, Declan Rice, and even Kepa Arrizabalaga (despite the arrival of another perpetually underwhelming backup goalkeeper in Illan Meslier).
Rice and Bruno are among those who are dealing with minor knocks already (but are probable to play), while Cristhian Mosquera and Jurrien Timber face late fitness tests. Key defender William Saliba remains out with the back injury he sustained in the World Cup semifinal against Spain.
View from the enemy:The Short Fuse
Chelsea team news: The big injury question for the Blues is the status of Moisés Caicedo. He had missed the first two games before coming off the bench in the second half last weekend. Unfortunately, his day would last just 13 minutes, and he remains questionable for tomorrow. Valentín Barco finished out the game in his stead, and would likely be called upon in what is expected to be a feisty encounter.
In the absences of Caicedo and Enzo Fernández (who’s now gone to Manchester City), Xabi Alonso has cobbled together a midfield from the likes of Roméo Lavia, Reece James, and Malo Gusto (not a typo), hoping that they would be able to hold own the center well enough for the front three (and the wing-backs) to combine and do their thing. This plan has worked in some ways (seven goals scored), and not worked in other ways (five conceded). Alonso’s not one to preach possession for possession’s sake, but we’ve been made to pay for our lack of control at times, and it’s probably not a sustainable approach to have to keep putting up 3-4 goals per game even with the talents Cole Palmer, João Pedro, and Morgan Rogers (and even if we now have less of a wild card in goal, at least slightly, in former Arsenal man Emi Martínez instead of Rob Sánchez).
Chelsea spent much of transfer deadline day trying to add to our midfield options, but after AS Monaco’s shenanigans over Lamine Camara, we were left with nothing. Arsenal’s Martín Zubimendi was among those who had been considered earlier in the window, but the Gunners rejected even the faintest notions of any such move. We did sign Jordan Henderson to maybe help out in that regard (and in terms of some much needed leadership), but he’s still not fit to play. Wing-back Marco Palestra also remains out, for at least a few more days, after picking up an injury at the end of preseason.
Previously: It’s been five years since we won at the Emirates, when Romelu Lukaku scored. Feels like two lifetimes ago. We played four times last season, and all four were close games: a draw at the Bridge, a one-goal defeat at the Emirates, plus two one-goal defeats in either leg of the League Cup semifinal. But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, as they say.