Arsenal, despite suffering a humiliating 4-0 defeat against Liverpool, have shown signs of improvement with successive wins against Bournemouth and Europa League opponents FC Koln and their back to back victories over the Blues (FA Cup final of last season and Community Shield) made them confident enough to seek a favourable outcome.
Chelsea, The defending Premier League champions were enjoying a three-game winning streak following a disastrous inception of the new campaign and their Sunday afternoon fixture against London rivals Arsenal promised to produce an end-to-end encounter at Stamford Bridge.
The game, however, ended in a futile scoreless draw as both the teams failed to convert the opportunities. Below are the Arsenal players rated from this fixture.
Petr Cech: 7.5
The former Chelsea custodian was solid between the sticks and pulled off a one-on-one stop to deny Pedro late in the first half. Made a few other routine stops and eventually registered a clean-sheet for his team.
Laurent Koscielny: 8
Did extremely well to keep Morata quiet throughout the game as the Frenchman did not allow him to have aerial supremacy.
Xherdan Mustafi: 7
Mustafi was well-positioned on most occasions, pulled off a few crucial blocks, clearances and interceptions.
Nacho Monreal: 8
Monreal has done extremely well in a make-shift left centre-back role as he impressed once again with his tackles and interceptions. Did not allow Pedro to cut inside and create goal bound threats in the first half.
Hector Bellerin: 7
Made a few great forward runs and whipped in a few decent crosses for the likes of Alexandre Lacazette and Danny Welbeck. Was much better defensively this afternoon compared to his previous outings.
Granit Xhaka: 7.5
Another impressive display by the Swiss sensation as he never let Chelsea control the game from midfield and did not allow Kante to make his menacing runs.
Aaron Ramsey: 8
Ramsey was unlucky as his majestic effort struck the woodwork in the first-half. Also, advanced a few imposing forward balls for his attackers.
Alex Iwobi: 7
The youngster looked confident as he kept on linking up with fellow attackers as well as providing support in midfield alongside Ramsey and Xhaka. Was taken off in the closing minutes and was replaced by Mohamed ElNeny.
Sead Kolasinac: 7.5
Kolasinac has been outstanding so far for the Gunners and it was no different this afternoon as he kept on making forward runs as well as performing his defensive responsibilities from the left wing-back slot. Never allowed Victor Moses to dominate from the wing and cut inside the Arsenal box.
Danny Welbeck: 6
Should have kept his header in the goal from Bellerin’s pin-point cross. The Englishman was looking sharp in early minutes but faded away lately. Was replaced by Olivier Giroud in the second half.
Alexandre Lacazette: 5
Lacazette had a couple of golden opportunities to break the deadlock which he could not capitalize. Needs to definitely work on his passing. Was taken off in the second half and was replaced by Alexis Sanchez.
Substitutes
Alexis Sanchez: 6.5
Sanchez was exploring the left-hand flank and playing a few ambitious one-twos with fellow attackers to create space in Chelsea half. The Chilean, however, could not alter the outcome.
Olivier Giroud: 6
Giroud has netted late goals several times coming off the bench. But he could not produce the same this time and the game ended scoreless.
Mohamed Elneny: 6
Elneny came in place of Iwobi. Offered fresh legs in the middle of the park and concentrated on breaking Chelsea attacks in midfield.
