This fixture has long had an edge to it, with this one pitting youth teammates, Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso, against each other in the English top flight for the first time.
Chelsea need to reverse recent form against the Gunners
Alonso, who is still getting to grips with the job in hand at Stamford Bridge, will need to reverse recent history if he wants to get one over on his lifelong friend.
You have to go back to August 2021 for the Blues' last victory over the Gunners, with their record sitting at eight without a win in the Premier League, picking up just three draws in that time.
Arsenal are actually unbeaten in their last nine against their London rivals (W6, D3), have lost only one of their last 29 Premier League London derbies against any opponent from the capital (W22, D6), and are unbeaten in their last 16 (W12, D4).
It's a record for Arteta and his squad to be proud of, and it gives further context as to how difficult an assignment this could be for a visiting team that is still trying to find their feet under a new manager.
Can Alonso and Co. make it four wins out of four?
Chelsea will be without Enzo Fernandez, of course, the Argentinian signing for Manchester City during the transfer window, and his incredible output in both an attacking and defensive sense is likely to be sorely missed.
The Blues have won three consecutive games under Alonso, however, including one in the Carabao Cup, and the last time that the team won four in a row to start a campaign in all competitions was back in 2016/17 at the start of Antonio Conte's reign.
If the Spaniard were to beat Arsenal, he would become the first Chelsea manager since Maurizio Sarri to win his opening three Premier League matches, which the Italian achieved in 2018/19.
Arteta's men have also won both of their league games so far in 2026/27, too, but they've only won their first three games of a league campaign once (2022/23) in the last 21 seasons.
England colleagues likely to be decisive
England colleagues Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer, as well as Declan Rice and Morgan Rogers, are likely to have a say in how this one ends up.
From Saka's point of view, he has already scored in both of Arsenal's league games this season, and would become the first Gunner since Alexandre Lacazette in 2020/21 to net in the opening three games of a campaign if he scores against Chelsea.
Palmer, Rogers and their colleagues could find getting past David Raya to be heavy going, given that Arsenal have only allowed opponents one shot on target so far this season, as well as receiving the fewest shots in total (11), though the former has 49 goals in 98 Premier League appearances, and will be keen to emulate Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (84 games) and Diego Costa (85), as the only players to score 50 goals in less than 100 EPL matches for Chelsea.
Since the start of the 2022/23 season, however, Arteta's side have stopped their opponents from having a single shot on target on 16 separate occasions, which is double the amount the next nearest club (Liverpool) managed.
Joao Pedro looking to create his own slice of London derby history
Chelsea, by contrast, have leaked five goals in their two league games this season, scoring seven, and if there were to be five goals scored in a game for the third consecutive match week, the West Londoners would've equalled Arsenal's opening three games from 1988/89.
Back then, the Gunners beat Wimbledon 5-1 away on the opening day, and followed it up with a 3-2 defeat at home against Aston Villa, and a 3-2 win away at Tottenham.
Joao Pedro has both scored and assisted in Chelsea's opening two matches this season, and if he were able to repeat the feat at the Emirates Stadium, which is by no means beyond him, he would become only the second player in Premier League history (West Ham's Michail Antonio in 2021/22 is the other) to score and assist in the opening three games of an EPL campaign.
Jordan Henderson and Marco Palestra won't play any part in this game, with Alonso surely hoping that Moises Caicedo shakes off his fitness doubts ahead of this one.
Currently rated at 50/50 to play some part in the game, the Ecuadorian will be a huge miss if he's ruled out.
William Saliba and Jurrien Timber are definitely missing for the Gunners, whilst Rice and Cristhian Mosquera will face late fitness tests.
Jason Pettigrove has been the features writer for Flashscore since 2025, utilising Opta data to form the basis of his articles. He has previously worked for high profile football clubs, news and media outlets, both in print and digital, and can usually be found watching FC Barcelona when time permits. You can read more of his pieces here.
