Alonso has Chelsea firing, with seven goals scored in their first two games. Unfortunately, it seemingly come at the cost of some defensive stability as they’ve also conceded five.
A first two games against Fulham and Brighton could have certainly been better for Alonso, but it could also have been a lot worse.
The new Chelsea boss will go up against his old mate Mikel Arteta and an Arsenal side that has conceded an xG of just 0.53 over their two games for his first test against a fellow ‘big six’ club.
Chelsea have opened the scoring within the first four minutes against both Fulham and Brighton, so, if anyone is going to break Arsenal down, it should be them.
Chelsea team news v Arsenal
The West Londoners don’t have any suspensions to worry about, but they do have a few injuries. Moises Caicedo remains a major doubt, although Alonso said in his pre-match press conference that he will be checked ahead of the game.
New signings Marco Palestra and Jordan Henderson will both certainly miss this one, however.
As for Arsenal, just like Alonso, Arteta doesn’t any suspensions to deal with. William Saliba is still out with a back injury, we won’t be seeing him before the international break, and Jurrien Timber is a doubt with an ankle issue.
Chelsea and Arsenal predicted Xis
Arsenal: Raya; White, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Guimaraes, Rice, Saka, Odegaard, Tzolis; Havertz
Chelsea: Martinez; Fofana, Lacroix, Colwill; Gusto, James, Lavia, Hato; Palmer, Rogers; Pedro
Key stat
Chelsea haven’t beaten Arsenal in a competitive game since their 2-0 win back in August 2021.