There was nothing to separate two fierce London rivals on Sunday afternoon as Chelsea and Arsenal played out a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
The result continues an exciting start to the season for the Blues, who sit third in the Premier League after Pedro Neto struck back following Gabriel Martinelli’s opener. However, there is plenty of reflection going on in the Gunners camp, with hopes of winning the title fading as they now sit nine points behind leaders Liverpool heading into the international break.
So, who impressed in Gameweek 11’s curtain-closer and who has plenty to mull over during the next two weeks?
Here are 90min’s winners and losers from Sunday’s encounter in west London.
Marc Cucurella
Marc Cucurella and Bukayo Saka are pretty familiar foes at this point.
The pair have squared off regularly in the Premier League in recent years and were direct opponents during the Euro 2024 final between eventual victors Spain and runners-up England over the summer. Cucurella got the better of his rival to claim international silverware and he was the victor once again in their personal duel at Stamford Bridge.
It was one of Saka’s less influential matches for Arsenal, having two shots blocked and failing to create any chances for his teammates. The 23-year-old then had to limp off late on, which must have made Cucurella pretty content.
With four out of six ground duels won and two out of three tackles completed, it was a solid outing for the long-haired Spaniard.
Martin Odegaard
That Martin Odegaard started Sunday’s trip to Chelsea and played the entire match, having only made a very brief substitute appearance in the loss at Inter in midweek, is a massive win for Arsenal.
An almost immediate improvement to their previously spluttering attack was also clear to see as the Norwegian star returned to the starting XI.
The club captain created a game-high four chances, including the ball in for Martinelli’s strike, and his return to matchday availability will surely help Arsenal improve on their recent run of just one win in their last five games.
Noni Madueke
The world seemed to be at Noni Madueke’s feet after he insulted an entire city and then scored a hat-trick against its football team in Chelsea’s 6-2 demolition of Wolves in August. However, it’s been far from plain sailing over the following months.
The 22-year-old’s effort against Nottingham Forest remains his only goal contribution for the Blues since his Molineux treble. Chelsea boast renowned strength in depth and at some point manager Enzo Maresca may start getting twitchy.
Madueke couldn’t provide any composure with his final ball against Arsenal and looked rushed whenever he got the chance to shoot at goal. With the likes of Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix and Mykhailo Mudryk waiting for Premier League minutes, time might be running out for the right winger.
Mikel Arteta
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been consistently bullish about his side’s ambition of winning the league title this year. However, the early pace set by Liverpool has proved too fast so far for the Gunners, who sit nine points off the top after their most recent draw.
To make matters worse, the Spaniard admitted injuries to star England duo Saka and Declan Rice “did not look good”, adding to the current absences of Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney.
There’ll be an anxious wait to discover the severity of those knocks, but Arteta can ill-afford either of them to be sidelined for too long with Arsenal now playing catch-up in the title race.
