Chelsea's midfield struggled badly as Arsenal beat Xabi Alonso's side in a high-scoring encounter at the Emirates, exposing a lack of control in the centre of the pitch that was compounded by Moisés Caicedo's continued absence. Although Chelsea took an early lead through Morgan Rogers and created further chances, they could not match Arsenal's overall quality, with Declan Rice dominating midfield and the winning goal coming after Reece James lost track of Martin Ødegaard, who beat Emiliano Martínez.

The defeat was Alonso's first as Chelsea manager and leaves them without a clean sheet in the league since January, having conceded seven goals in three games. Caicedo, an unspecified issue, missed a third successive league match after being rushed back too soon against Brighton, and Alonso admitted he did not want to repeat that mistake. With Enzo Fernández having left for Manchester City on deadline day and no direct replacement signed, James is still adapting to a central midfield role while Roméo Lavia, yet to complete 90 minutes for the club, tired after an hour and was replaced by another converted right-back, Malo Gusto, leaving Chelsea short of genuine midfield options until the January transfer window.