Arsenal have not conceded a goal this season. Chelsea have conceded five goals and still won both matches. They meet at the Emirates on Sunday 6 September 2026, five days after Chelsea sold Enzo Fernández to Manchester City for £125m, and the two most obviously improved sides in the division get to find out which improvement is real.
London Derby
Arsenal beat Coventry 3-0 and won 1-0 at Aston Villa on 31 August, with Bukayo Saka scoring in the 59th minute. Four goals scored, none conceded, second on goal difference behind Manchester City. Mikel Arteta’s side have started the way Arteta’s sides usually start: controlled, low-risk, quietly effective. But of course, the first big test is coming just now against Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea.
Chelsea have been the opposite kind of watchable. Xabi Alonso won 3-2 at Fulham on his debut, João Pedro scoring inside 31 seconds, then beat Brighton 4-3 at Stamford Bridge on 30 August. Seven scored, five conceded, six points. Nobody has worked out yet whether that is a team finding its rhythm or a team getting away with it. Xabi didn’t hesitate and signed Emi Martinez from Aston Villa and sent Robert Sanchez on loan to Como. Emi Martinez conceded 3 against Brighton in his first game, but that will probably improve once he gets the rhythm with his new teammates.
Both are on six points. Arsenal are second, Chelsea fourth. Manchester City sit above them both on goal difference, having won at Crystal Palace 4-1 on 28 August.
Team news & injuries
Chelsea sold Enzo Fernández to Manchester City on deadline day, 1 September, for £125m; a joint British record. He had been dropped, booed and left out of cup squads before he went, so the sporting loss is smaller than the fee suggests. Replacing his passing range in one week is still a problem.
Moisés Caicedo is reported unavailable through injury, which is the genuine concern. Jordan Henderson and Marco Palestra are also listed as out.
Arsenal are without Jurriën Timber and William Saliba. Losing Saliba from a defence that has not conceded is the single biggest team-news item of the weekend.
Predicted line-ups
Gabriel and Calafiori as the centre-back pairing in Saliba’s absence, with Declan Rice and Martin Ødegaard in midfield. Saka on the right, Kai Havertz through the middle. Arteta will not change a system that has produced two clean sheets.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Raya – White, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori – Lewis-Skelly, Rice – Saka, Ødegaard, Tzolis – Havertz
Alonso has shifted to a back three, with Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill and Maxence Lacroix behind wing-backs. Romeo Lavia partners Morgan Rogers in central midfield — a partnership assembled by necessity rather than design, with Caicedo out and Fernández sold. Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto float behind João Pedro.
Chelsea (3-4-2-1): Martinez – Colwill, Lacroix, Acheampong – Hato, Lavia, James, Gusto – Rogers, Palmer – João Pedro
The key battle
Chelsea’s central midfield against Declan Rice. This is the whole match. Alonso has lost Fernández permanently and Caicedo temporarily, which leaves Lavia — a fine player with a long injury history — and Rogers, a £117m signing who is not a holding midfielder, to control the middle of the pitch against Rice and Ødegaard at the Emirates. Arsenal will press that pair relentlessly.
The counter is Palmer. Arsenal without Saliba are a different proposition in behind, and Palmer has hurt Arsenal before.
Prediction & tip
Chelsea score goals and concede them. Arsenal do neither in volume, and their whole model is built on not losing control. At home, with Rice and Ødegaard against a midfield held together with tape, Arsenal should dominate the middle third.
The Saliba absence is the reason not to back a clean sheet. Arsenal lead the recent series 4-1 with one draw and won the last meeting 2-1 in March 2026.
Tip: Arsenal win + both teams to score. Predicted score: Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea.
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