Analysis: Chelsea

Head coach Maurizio Sarri named an unchanged starting line-up from Chelsea’s opening-day victory over Huddersfield. The hosts’ start was bright, as they dominated the early proceedings. Jorginho’s dropping in between Chelsea’s two central defenders, David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger, was highly effective. From here, they could comfortably play around the initial high press from Arsenal.

During the opening stages, it was obvious that Arsenal’s front line had identified Rudiger as the weak link in possession. Rather than looking to force him into an error on the ball, leaving him open to create a pressing trap, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang simply man-marked the Germany international. Against such a tame defensive structure, penetration was relatively simple for Chelsea.

With Mesut Ozil on Jorginho, David Luiz could drive forward unchallenged with the ball. As the Brazilian stepped into midfield, an Arsenal player was eventually lured to the ball – which then created a free man higher up the pitch. Ross Barkley was usually the vacant midfielder, frequently exploiting the weakness of the Gunners’ man-marking structure.

Barkley’s forward runs along the inside left channel caused multiple problems, as the width of Willian and Marcos Alonso created the perfect gap between Arsenal’s right-back and central defence. The inside movements of Pedro from the right channel also ensured Arsenal’s two centre-backs each had a man to mark, meaning neither could sweep across and deal with Barkley’s penetrating runs.

Inside 20 minutes, Chelsea had a deserved two-goal lead. The opening finish was a fine example of Sarri’s trademark third-man movements. Left-back Alonso played the ball into Willian, who moved play to Jorginho deep in midfield. As Willian drew defenders in, Alonso continued his run forward and was expertly found by Jorginho’s penetrating pass. Pedro crucially began in an offside position, ensuring that once the cross was delivered from an advanced Alonso, he was ahead of the dropping defenders and free to finish unchallenged.

Despite Arsenal improving, Chelsea doubled their advantage. A long ball forward exploited Arsenal’s high line, as Alvaro Morata surged forward and bullied Shkodran Mustafi before cooly slotting home past Petr Cech. At this point, it may have been a case of how many for the home side, but the Gunners responded well. Chelsea were second best for the remainder of the second half, and lucky not to have gone into the break behind.

The second half began with little tactical output from either side. Both teams conceded possession regularly, with Chelsea’s high press becoming more intense and Arsenal’s defence looking increasingly uncomfortable on the ball.

Noticeably, lone striker Morata became much more involved in the build-up. With the gap between Arsenal’s back line and their holding midfielders increasing, Morata now had space to drop in and create a central three-against-two overload with Barkley and N’Golo Kante.

To increase the home side’s threat, Eden Hazard and Mateo Kovacic were introduced on the hour mark, with Olivier Giroud joining the action for the final quarter – and Chelsea began to dominate. A combination of Hazard’s trademark dribbles along Arsenal’s right side, his link-up play with the promising Kovacic, and Jorginho being afforded the space to move higher against the inconsistent tracking of Ozil, resulted in plenty of chances.

They eventually grabbed the winner in the 81st minute, as an overlapping run from Alonso went untracked. Hazard’s turn of pace created an opening to cross, and the left-back was perfectly placed to sweep the ball home and claim all three points for his team.