LONDON — Arsenal and Chelsea put on a show in North London on Sunday, with the Premier League giants going toe-to-toe in a wonderful early-season spectacle.
MORE — Arsenal v Chelsea recap | Player ratings
So many intriguing tactical tweaks took place as Morgan Rogers gave Chelsea an early lead but Arsenal roared back with goals from Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard to take the lead.
The Gunners are now 10 games unbeaten against Chelsea in the Premier League, but this win was up in the air until the end.
MORE — Xabi Alonso reaction | Mikel Arteta reaction
Close friends Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso embraced at the final whistle after masterminding an enthralling game.
Here’s a look at what we learned from Arsenal vs Chelsea.
Havertz’s clever positioning shifts game in Arsenal’s favor
Havertz started up front centrally for Arsenal but he basically played right wing for a lot of this game. He drifted out wide to create overloads and it unnerved Chelsea at a pivotal point of the game in the first half. He scored the crucial equalizer with Arsenal well on top. Havertz started on the right, drifted inside and Chelsea’s back five left it to each other because they weren’t sure who was picking up an out-of-position Havertz. Aside from that clinical finish he dummied the ball perfectly for Odegaard’s goal and set up a big chance for Saka with another delicious flick. Havertz is having a wonderful time with the freedom to roam in attack. He has been waiting for this chance to play his natural game at Arsenal and finally looks fit and sharp to consistently link up play, sustain attacks, and do damage. The German got a standing ovation when he came off towards the end and that said it all. Havertz has always been a very good player but he is now one of the first names on Arsenal’s team sheet.
Chelsea’s set piece creativity will be key
No Premier League team has scored more set-piece goals than Chelsea this season, with four in three games. That is no coincidence. They hired set-piece guru Austin MacPhee from Aston Villa over the summer and he is already working wonders. Rogers’ volley for the opener was a thing of beauty, but it was all about the positioning. Alonso sat down to allow MacPhee to use the technical area to set up the free kick. He positioned Chelsea’s players in two bunches and had Rogers and Palmer floating around the edge of the box to make the most of any knockdowns. It worked a treat. Chelsea also often left four players up for Arsenal’s corners, which caused the Gunners problems and meant they weren’t as dangerous from those situations due to worries about being countered by the Blues. These are the small margins which will help Chelsea become at least top four contenders this season.
The bite is back in this rivarly
When you have England teammates Morgan Rogers and Declan Rice squaring up late in the game and going at it, you know this rivalry is back. There was real spice and tension to this game from the start. That was just in the stands. “Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that!” sang the Chelsea fans in the away end as inflatable Champions League trophies were waved around. “Champions of England, we know what we are!” sang the Arsenal fans in response. It hasn’t been this way for a few years with Arsenal clearly on top and in another league than Chelsea. But Xabi Alonso’s appointment at Chelsea has already seen them close the considerable gap a little and they will get closer to Arsenal over the next 12 months. Chelsea proved why many believe they will be the main contenders to Arsenal for the title this season. Arsenal also won convincingly enough to show why they are still the red-hot favorites to win it all.
