Chelsea

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The primary issue is the absence of midfielder Moises Caicedo, who is out with an unspecified injury for an unknown period after breaking down just 11 minutes into a substitute appearance against Brighton last week.

It has left Xabi Alonso in almost uncharted territory for a Chelsea boss. Aside from suspensions, Caicedo had missed only two matches during the previous three seasons, through a knock and illness.

Asked about the Ecuador international, Alonso said: "It is about assessing the risk. Probably, last week, we brought him back too early and I don't want to make the same mistake again."

It remains unclear whether Chelsea had concerns over Caicedo's fitness while pursuing several central midfielders on transfer deadline day.

Monaco pulled the plug on a £47m move for Lamine Camara at the last minute, leaving officials at Stamford Bridge furious.

Chelsea said they pursued Camara because of a market opportunity, adding that they were satisfied with their summer business and retained faith in their current options.

That was despite selling Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City for a joint British record fee of £125m on deadline day, without signing a direct replacement.

However, Caicedo's absence means he joins Jordan Henderson on the sidelines, with the England international still recovering from a broken arm suffered after falling over an advertising hoarding while an unused substitute at the World Cup.

Natural midfielder Valentin Barco, who joined from Strasbourg in the summer, has been overlooked in favour of Malo Gusto in all three of Chelsea's Premier League matches so far.

With Gusto starting in midfield, Chelsea recorded 25.6% possession in last weekend's 4-3 victory over Brighton, their lowest figure since records began in 2003-04.

"I don't think Chelsea can be that frustrated or upset they haven't got more players in, with the number of players they've got on their books," former England captain Wayne Rooney told Match of the Day.

"Alonso has got to figure a way out while they've got injuries... find a way.

"They obviously won the first two league games of the season, but coming up against Arsenal they see the level the champions have got to and they were a little bit off that."

However, if all of Chelsea's midfield options are fit, and Caicedo's injury proves only minor, they should be able to cope with five midfielders in a season without midweek European football, as Alonso argued before the match.

Watch Sunday's episode of Match of the Day on BBC iPlayer

Match of the Day pundit Wayne Rooney says Gabriel was fortunate to stay on the pitch after his challenge on Chelsea' goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Watch Match of the Day on BBC iPlayer

Chelsea want to secure the signing of Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott now, with a view to the 23-year-old arriving next summer, after having a £60m bid rejected in the recent transfer window. (Teamtalk), external

Arsenal, Manchester City and Al-Hilal are interested in Chelsea's Pedro Neto and could make a move for the winger in January. (Caught Offside), external

Meanwhile, Blues forward Christopher Nkunku turned down offers from Manchester United and Newcastle United before sealing a loan move back to RB Leipzig. (Bild & Sky Sport Germany, via Caught Offside), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Chelsea starting XI:

Emiliano Martinez: There was concern when the Argentina goalkeeper was accidentally kicked in the head by Gabriel early on, but he was beaten too easily at his near post for Kai Havertz's equaliser. He later made a high-quality save from Saka in the second half. 5

Josh Acheampong: Often dragged into uncomfortable areas by Tzolis from a tactical perspective, but handled his individual defensive duties well. 6

Maxence Lacroix: Miscontrolled a ball early on and allowed Havertz's shot to pass through his legs but also impressed at other times. 6

Wesley Fofana: Unconvincing defensively against Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and, ultimately, Havertz for the equaliser, but the most composed of Chelsea's defenders in possession. 6

Pedro Neto: Tasked with marking Riccardo Calafiori while also providing an attacking threat. Hit the post just before half-time with a brilliant curling effort. 7

Reece James: Saw a well-struck long-range effort saved after 22 minutes and was arguably Chelsea's best passer. 7

Romeo Lavia: Produced a superb defensive header to clear the danger in the 32nd minute and competed aggressively throughout. 6

Jorrel Hato: His determination helped create Morgan Rogers' volley and he matched that effort defensively, although he struggled to contain Saka at times. 6

Cole Palmer: Had one effort on target in the first half and was booked for a professional foul. Also had a second-half shot saved. Arsenal largely kept him quiet. 5

Morgan Rogers: Opened the scoring with a first-time volley after just two minutes. Later curled an effort narrowly wide in the 31st minute and was Chelsea's most dangerous attacking player. 7

Joao Pedro: Unconvincing defensively at set-pieces and had few opportunities in front of goal, including an ambitious effort from distance. Still made a significant contribution through his work-rate, physical presence and ability to bring team-mates into play as the number nine. 6

Chelsea substitutes:

Malo Gusto (on 60, Lavia): Poor effort moments after coming on, albeit playing out of position in central midfield. 5

Pep Chavarria (on 60, Hato): Struggled to track his runners on a few occasions. 6

Estevao Willian (on 80, Neto): The Brazilian's sensational curling effort almost levelled but was saved by Raya.

Danny Welbeck (on 87, Rogers)

Subs not used:

Penders, Colwill, Barco, Quenda, Gittens

Read the full article and see how you rated the players

Neil Johnston
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea finished in 10th place, a whopping 33 points behind Arsenal last season.

While Xabi Alonso's side still have plenty of catching up to do, there was evidence in this game they will compete towards the top end of the table this time.

Alonso, however, needs to get on top of his side's defensive frailties.

While Chelsea have goals in them this season in the shape of Morgan Rogers - who has scored two and provided one assist in his first three league appearances for his new club - Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer, they also have holes at the back.

Chelsea have not kept a clean sheet in the league since 17 January and although they pushed Arsenal all the way, there will be disappointment about both goals they conceded.

Argentina World Cup keeper Emiliano Martinez will feel he should have done better with Kai Havertz's equaliser, while Chelsea's defence was found wanting for Martin Odegaard's winner.

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "The assessment and the feeling [is that] it hurts. It hurts to lose. It hurts to suffer our first defeat. It has been a very intense game, a great fight between two sides who have given everything. They have played with the top level of concentration, of intensity. We have tried, we score early, after that Arsenal push us hard and we were struggling a little bit to get control of the ball.

"After the equaliser, it has been quite balanced. We had a couple of chances. It's about details. Once you concede, you need to know it's just one goal. Disappointed that we couldn't take anything from here."

On creating opportunities today: "It was never going to be a game to create 12 opportunities. They are hard to beat, they are hard to create chances [against], but we had 3,4, chances to score more than one goal. This is a process. It's still early days for us. We want to start having clean sheets, they will come. The players are committed to working hard, to knowing that we're on the way to compete in each game. Not happy that we couldn't get anything but we need to keep calm and carry on."

On if it's too early to say whether Chelsea will score a lot but also concede a lot: "It's too early. Time will tell. We want to keep improving in certain areas, we want to keep doing as well as we are doing. Each game is really hard battle and we have fought really hard up to the last minute in the game. It's very important we have this spirit and the team is feeling this spirit. It gives you the strength to win games."

Did you know?

• Chelsea have lost five consecutive away games against an opponent in the Premier League for the second time, previously losing six in a row at Anfield to Liverpool between 1992 and 1997.

• Chelsea are the first team in Premier League history to score inside the opening five minutes in each of their first three games of the season.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Arsenal's performance

What did you make of Chelsea's display?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Monday for a selection of your replies.

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Arsenal were a bit clunky last time out against Aston Villa, while I love what Xabi Alonso is doing at Chelsea.

He doesn't care about possession, and that's not how Chelsea try to get results.

It's strange because I had a look at how his Bayer Leverkusen side lined up when they won the Bundesliga, and they were pretty dominant possession-wise.

So, it is quite alarming when you look at the two league games Chelsea have played and see how much of the ball they haven't had. Against Fulham they only had 38% possession and then against Brighton it was down to 25%.

I don't know whether that is by design or by just not having the players to dominate. They are still free-scoring, but they are conceding loads of goals too.

Whatever the reason, I don't see it changing here. Arsenal are so powerful and the only question mark around them is if they are a forward or two short.

Even so, you would not exactly say they have a real weakness anywhere. The beauty of Mikel Arteta's side is they can play in different ways.

They demolished Manchester City in the Community Shield with some pure football, and played some nice stuff against Coventry too, but then they were able to grind out a win at Aston Villa as well.

Ultimately, whether they are free-flowing or not, their organisation should see them through this game too.

Sutton's prediction: 3-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Matthew Hobbs
BBC Sport journalist

Arsenal and Chelsea meet on Saturday having each won both of their opening matches.

BBC Sport examines some of the key themes ahead of Sunday's meeting at Emirates Stadium (16:30 BST).

Arsenal will aim to continue a strong start to their title defence by winning their opening three Premier League matches for only the second time in the past 21 seasons.

The Gunners have begun 2026-27 in comfortable fashion both on and off the pitch. Effective recruitment this summer means that Mikel Arteta's side were not involved in the scramble of deadline day, with the £51m purchase of Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa on 21 August proving to be Arsenal's final signing of the summer window.

Konsa made his debut as a late substitute against his former employers during the 1-0 win at Villa Park on Monday night and reinforcing an already formidable defence with an England international has underlined Arsenal's strongest suit.

So far this season, they have faced the fewest shots (11) and shots on target (one) and have allowed opponents the lowest collective expected goals tally (0.54) of any side. They are yet to concede a goal in three games, including the 3-0 Community Shield win against Manchester City.

Chelsea's start to the season has been of a different ilk entirely, so too the nature of their transfer business.

Deadline day saw midfielder Enzo Fernandez depart for City in a move which matched the British transfer record fee of £125m that Liverpool paid to Newcastle for Alexander Isak's services last summer.

In total, 14 players have left Stamford Bridge in the transfer window, with 13 coming in, at a trading profit of more than £45m.

Chelsea's frenetic transfer activity has been matched by events on the pitch, with their two Premier League games so far featuring 12 goals in wins against Fulham and Brighton.

They could become the first side to see their opening three games of a top-flight season each feature five or more goals since Arsenal themselves in 1988.

Midfielder Cole Palmer was back to his best in helping Chelsea beat Brighton 4-3 last weekend, scoring what proved to be the winner in the 74th minute.

The England international has scored 49 goals in 98 Premier League games for Chelsea since joining from Manchester City for £40m in 2023.

Should he score against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, Palmer will become only the third Chelsea player to reach a half-century of Premier League goals in fewer than 100 games.

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso appeared to speak with genuine conviction when discussing his satisfaction with the club's summer business.

However, his comments came just days after Chelsea missed out on signing a midfielder on transfer deadline day, largely because Monaco opted against sanctioning Lamine Camara's move to Stamford Bridge.

Yet Alonso, as he often does, focused on the options already at his disposal, highlighting Reece James, Moises Caicedo, Jordan Henderson, Romeo Lavia and Valentin Barco.

He also described this as only "phase one" which teases the potential to conduct more business to shape the squad into his vision come January.

The Chelsea head coach effectively confirmed Henderson remains unavailable but declined to provide an update on Caicedo after the midfielder lasted only 11 minutes as a substitute against Brighton on Sunday.

Ironically, his reluctance to discuss team news mirrors that of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, whom he will face at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Meanwhile, new goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez inherited the number one shirt after Robert Sanchez joined Como 1907 on loan on transfer deadline day.

The Argentina international has also offered to sign shirts for supporters who purchased his number 26 jersey through official club channels following his move from Aston Villa last week.

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium (16:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Alonso gave an update on Moises Caicedo's fitness: "We will check tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last decision for the squad on Sunday." He added that summer signing Jordan Henderson is "getting closer and closer to playing time".

• On Enzo Fernandez's deadline-day move to Manchester City: "We take all the decisions together. We work together with big ones, small ones. We knew, ultimately, the goal is to have the best for the team. We want to build a good spirit, a good team."

• On the circumstances surrounding Fernandez's exit: "In football, many things happen. With Enzo, we have had conversations and always with respect. What he has done for the club has been great, but now it's time to move forward. We have players with quality in every position and now we are ready to go."

• Alonso was also asked about a late move for Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara collapsing: "I think that we are prepared and happy with the squad and the depth we have. It's a good balance of players from different stages. We need to build that energy during the week to perform at the weekends. So far, it has been a good start and now we know who is in the building. It's good to have that certainty."

• On Chelsea's summer business as a whole: "We can be very happy with the whole transfer window. What we starting talking about in May and early June - many things we have. It is a very balanced phase one we have made in this transfer window. Phase one is completed - it's a good one for now and for the future."

• On summer signing Morgan Rogers, who had previously been heavily linked with a move to Sunday's opponents: "For sure, Morgan was a big, big one to get a player of his stature - in the present and future. He will be a key player for the next six, seven years. He's had a great impact."

• On his midfield options: "Valentin [Barco] is young but he has a great energy. Hendo [Henderson] has the composure and the mentality. Hendo knows what is going on in the game, he's getting closer and closer to playing time. Reece [James] as well, Malo [Gusto]. [Reggie] Watson and Mahdi [Nicoll-Jazuli] from the academy. We have options, quality and competitiveness."

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Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso will speak to the media on Friday for the first time since his side's failed attempt to sign a midfielder before the transfer deadline.

They were left furious when Monaco pulled the plug on their £47m agreement for Lamine Camara, 22, on Tuesday night.

In the aftermath, Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro delivered a media conference and said Alonso had spoken directly to the Senegal international before the Ligue 1 club decided to pull the plug on a proposed move for the midfielder.

The pursuit followed Enzo Fernandez's joint British-record £125m move to Manchester City, while Chelsea also explored deals for Roma midfielder Manu Kone and another unnamed Premier League target.

The question now is whether Alonso believes his current midfield options are sufficient, with five recognised players available in that area of the pitch.

There are also concerns over the fitness of Moises Caicedo after the Ecuador international lasted only 11 minutes as a substitute against Brighton.

At the time, Alonso expressed optimism that the midfielder had not suffered a serious injury, although there has been no further update from the club.

The news conference is likely to focus on Chelsea's midfield options and whether they can compete with rivals such as champions Arsenal, whom they face away from home on Sunday.

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea have had a few remarkable transfer summers since their forced sale from Roman Abramovich's control in May 2022.

Once again they were big spenders, outlaying £349m on 11 signings such as Morgan Rogers, Maxence Lacroix and Emiliano Martinez.

But there was something different this time. Chelsea actually made a trading profit after selling 17 players.

Another 22 were loaned out, four of those with either sell-on options or obligations totalling more than £140m.

It meant a staggering 39 players left the club - and that is not including the four young players who were released.

And, remarkably after all that, the Chelsea website, external still lists a first-team squad on their books of 30 players.

Does this all show Chelsea's recruitment strategy, which has attracted significant criticism over the years, has finally started to deliver - at least financially?

Or has it been a sign of sorting out the transfer chaos of the first four years under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital?

For most of their tenure, the strategy centred on signing young players to long-term contracts and rapidly rebuilding a squad largely inherited from the Abramovich era - a process that initially came at considerable expense.

Spending on transfer fees has overall significantly exceeded income from player sales - and the club subsequently breached Uefa's financial controls, resulting in a fine and a settlement agreement.

Chelsea also controversially remained within Premier League financial regulations after selling assets, including two hotels and the women's team, to companies within the club's ownership structure.

Since then, they have increasingly focused on trying to balance their spending by generating significant transfer income.

Before this summer, Chelsea had already recorded sales total of £236m, £178m and £289m in successive summers.

What does that mean?

Put simply, Chelsea have spent almost £2bn across nine transfer windows, but have generated more than £1bn through player sales in this time.

Read more on Chelsea's 39 summer exits

Estevao Willian is concerned about how much first-team football he will get at Chelsea under Xabi Alonso and the forward could look to move in January depending on his situation. (ESPN Brazil), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Alex Bysouth
BBC Sport Senior Journalist

The 'here we go' is on hold, the 'bombas' are done and dusted and the window panes are reverberating after being forcefully closed on Tuesday night.

Now comes the moment for new arrivals to make their mark on the pitch rather than the balance sheet.

Throughout the Premier League era there have been hordes of transfer hits and misses, but today we're looking at those signings who proved game-changing for their club and the competition, the ones who really moved the needle.

I've ranked my top 10 and this is where Petr Cech's move to Chelsea placed.

Image source, Getty Images

10. Petr Cech - Rennes to Chelsea, £7m, July 2004

At number 10 on the list is Petr Cech.

Austrian goalkeeper Jurgen Macho was one of first faces through the door as the Roman Abramovich era began at Chelsea, arriving on a free transfer from Sunderland, only to tear his cruciate ligament and never play for the club.

A keeper signed the following summer would prove far more influential at Stamford Bridge.

While prising Claude Makelele from Real Madrid's Galacticos was a huge statement - likewise Hernan Crespo from Inter Milan - Petr Cech was the wall on which back-to-back titles were built.

Cech conceded only 15 goals in his debut league campaign, going on a run of 1,025 minutes without being beaten and ending the season with a record 24 clean sheets.

His Chelsea career spanned 11 seasons and included four Premier League titles and a Champions League. The Blues made back the £7m they paid - and then some.

Read Alex's top 10 game-changing transfers in Premier League history and make your own selections here