Minute-by-minute updates from the action at the Emirates Stadium
Arsenal bank on continuity after window closes
26m agoTeam news: Konsa starts, James returns
There’s been a second goal at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Clickity click click click!
80 min: Everton 0-1 Man Utd Bryan Mbeumo scored a fine goal just after half-time at Hill Dickinson Stadium. You can follow the last 10 minutes with Tim de Lisle.
Chelsea thought they had little chance of signing Morgan Rogers at the start of the summer. Xabi Alonso and the club’s recruitment team had the England international as a priority target but a deal seemed unlikely. Chelsea had endured a disappointing season, missing out on European football after finishing 10th, and their expectation was that Rogers would leave Aston Villa for Arsenal.
It was towards the end of the World Cup that Chelsea were made aware of a window of opportunity. Although Arsenal could claim to be London’s top dogs after winning the Premier League they dithered in talks with Villa, raising the prospect of another club stepping in.
Arteta has become more controlling over his seven years at Arsenal, not just in his micromanagement but in his demands from his team. Tactical plans are sophisticated and negotiable only in the final details. In their third successive season of finishing second he spoke repeatedly of the need to reduce, to zero if possible, the xG of the opposition. If they have no chances, they cannot score, and if they do not score, they cannot win.
In August 2021, Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea beat Arsenal with contemptuous ease at the Emirates. Since that 2-0 victory, in which Chelsea’s new signing Romelu Lukaku beasted Pablo Mari and Rob Holding, the teams have been going in different directions. And Arsenal have completely dominated the head-to-head: P11 W8 D3 L0 F24 A10.
The first email of the day comes from John Stedman
I think it’s hard to enjoy any sporting contest as a neutral without actively taking sides, so today’s match poses a particularly difficult problem for me. Usually, my preference would be for any team based in the capital to lose – something that is obviously impossible today. So, in London derbies, I have a very specific order of London teams that I wish to win: Leyton Orient, Charlton Athletic, QPR, Millwall, Brentford, Wimbledon, West Ham, Fulham, Tottenham. And the teams that I always will to lose: Arsenal and Chelsea. What is a poor boy to do?
I think it’s hard to enjoy any sporting contest as a neutral without actively taking sides, so today’s match poses a particularly difficult problem for me.
Usually, my preference would be for any team based in the capital to lose – something that is obviously impossible today. So, in London derbies, I have a very specific order of London teams that I wish to win: Leyton Orient, Charlton Athletic, QPR, Millwall, Brentford, Wimbledon, West Ham, Fulham, Tottenham.
And the teams that I always will to lose: Arsenal and Chelsea. What is a poor boy to do?
How about a Ramsay’s Hotel Hell marathon on E4 Extra? Your blood will boil just as much, but you already know who wins so there’s no jeopardy.
Ezri Konsa makes his first start for Arsenal, replacing the injured Cristhian Mosquera in defence. That’s the only change from Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Aston Villa on Monday. Bruno Guimaraes is fit enough to join a frighteningly strong bench.
Chelsea bring in Josh Acheampong and Reece James for Levi Colwill and Malo Gusto.
Arsenal (4-3-3) Raya; White, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Rice, Lewis-Skelly; Saka, Havertz, Tzolis.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Merino, Guimaraes, Eze, Madueke, Dowman, Gyokeres.
Chelsea (3-4-2-1) Martinez; Acheampong, Fofana, Lacroix; Neto, James, Lavia, Hato; Palmer, Rogers; Joao Pedro.
Subs: Penders, Colwill, Gusto, Chavvaria, Barco, Quenda, Gittens, Estevao, Welbeck.
Referee Chris Kavanagh.
Control v chaos. On the one hand, the forces of order, regimented, playing in precise patterns and, on the other, something darker, more visceral, a method that acknowledges the imperfection of the human soul, the unknowability of football in all its randomness; better, that second way says, to attempt to ride the fury than to believe it might be harnessed.
When it began, a decade ago, that’s how the Pep Guardiola v Jürgen Klopp rivalry appeared. Apollo v Dionysius. Two fundamentally opposed ways of seeing the world. But in time, the two crept towards each other. Klopp moved away from the heavy metal of his Borussia Dortmund years to something more conservative. Guardiola experimented in multiple directions, slowly abandoning the possession-oriented idealism of his past to something less radical but also less predictable.
The temptation, after the first two weeks of the season, is to cast Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso in a similar light. Arsenal are yet to concede a goal. They dominated the Community Shield from the first minute, beat a shambolic Manchester City 3-0 and gave the sense that they could easily have won more comprehensively had they been minded to do so. They were no more troubled in beating Coventry by the same scoreline in their opening league game and, while they were rather less dominant, they were still extremely comfortable against Aston Villa on Monday and had been slowly increasing the pressure when Bukayo Saka gave them the lead just before the hour.
Half time: Everton 0-0 Man Utd
It’s goalless in the early Premier League game at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Here’s how the great Tim de Lisle summarised the first half:
No goals, no thrills, but an absorbing encounter. It ought to be 1-1: Cunha should have scored for United and Barry for Everton, only for both attempts to go over the bar when it looked easier to get them on target. On xG, there’s not a lot to separate the teams. Everton 0.34-0.32 United. The United forward line has been the more imposing of the two, but James Garner, who captained their Under-21s before being brainlessly sold to Everton, has been the main man in midfield. And Jarrod Branthwaite, who was coveted by United a couple of summers ago, has been immense in defence.
No goals, no thrills, but an absorbing encounter. It ought to be 1-1: Cunha should have scored for United and Barry for Everton, only for both attempts to go over the bar when it looked easier to get them on target.
On xG, there’s not a lot to separate the teams. Everton 0.34-0.32 United. The United forward line has been the more imposing of the two, but James Garner, who captained their Under-21s before being brainlessly sold to Everton, has been the main man in midfield. And Jarrod Branthwaite, who was coveted by United a couple of summers ago, has been immense in defence.
So here we are: mooching about on Sunday afternoon*, waiting for the first really B.I.G. game of the Premier League season. It’s Arsenal v Chelsea at the Emirates – champions and favourites v dark horses; the best defence in England v potentially the best attack.
Arsenal have started the season with intimidating voracity. They battered Manchester City in the Community Shield, then took care of Coventry and Aston Villa without conceding a goal. They barely conceded a shot on target.
Chelsea beat Fulham 3-2 and Brighton 4-3, with an average of 30 per cent possession across the two games. Today’s match should tell us whether that approach is sustainable, because if it works at the Emirates it can work anywhere. Right now, for any aspirational English side – and Chelsea are most certainly that – Arsenal away is the ultimate test.
Kick off 4.30pm.
* Other time zones are available.
