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.
Thibaut Courtois: 7
Pulled off a couple of decent stops in the first half, was lucky not to concede as Aaron Ramsey hit the post.
Cesar Azpilicueta: 7
Was calm and composed, dealt well with Arsenal’s pressure in early minutes.
David Luiz: 5
Struggled initially against Alexandre Lacazette. Improved lately and did well to contain the Gunners’ attack. But his game ended in a disappointment as Michael Oliver, the referee, showed him a straight Red for a rash challenge on Kolasinac during closing minutes.
Gary Cahill: 7
Cahill looked nervy a couple of times against Bellerin’s pace, but he used his experience well to maintain discipline at the back.
Victor Moses: 5.5
Worked hard, ran a lot, but never looked promising enough in attack. Performed his defensive responsibilities when Arsenal were controlling the game in first-half.
N’Golo Kante: 7
An average outing considering his high standards. The Frenchman had a few nervy moments against the Gunners’ high pressing game, but he did well to settle things down and control the game from the middle of the park.
Cesc Fabregas: 8
The former Arsenal midfielder was Chelsea’s best performer this afternoon as his sublime delivery almost broke the deadlock in the first half but Pedro failed to finish it one-on-one.
Marcos Alonso: 6.5
Was not as influential as he has usually been for the Blues down the left-hand flank. Could not offer much in attack from his wing-back slot as he was well contained by Arsenal back-line.
Pedro: 6
His pace earned him a few opportunities upfront, most notably late into the first-half but the Spaniard failed to finish it one-on-one against former Chelsea custodian Petr Cech. Had a knock and was taken off at half-time.
Willian: 6
Ran a lot, tried his luck from distance and kept on creating space for fellow attackers inside the Arsenal box. The Brazilian, however, failed to alter the fate of the game and was taken off in the second half to be replaced by Eden Hazard.
Alvaro Morata: 5
The Spaniard has hade early impression in Chelsea attack after scoring three goals already. But he was mostly isolated upfront and failed to leave an impact before being taken off to be replaced by Andreas Christensen in closing minutes of the games.
Substitutes
Tiemoue Bakayoko: 7
Came as a half-time substitute in place of Pedro. Impressed with his passing skills ( 100% accuracy) and dribbling that was often creating space in the Gunners’ back-line.
Eden Hazard: 7
The Belgian wizard looked impressive since coming on as a second-half substitute in place of Willian. Tested Cech from distance but it did not cause any harm for Arsenal.
Andreas Christensen: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
