Arsenal-Chelsea: Pressure, surprises and an iconic rivalry

We asked our club writers Max Radwan and Jessy Parker Humphreys to answer some key questions ahead of Saturday's showdown in the WSL

Chelsea’s Lauren James and Arsenal’s Katie McCabe battle for the ball

Arsenal host Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday in one of the most anticipated games of the season. This fixture always delivers fireworks. We asked our Chelsea writer Jessy Parker Humphreys and Arsenal writer Max Radwan to answer some key questions ahead of the game.

How are you feeling after the first few games of the season?

Jessy Parker Humphreys (Chelsea): It has been a stilted start to life under Sonia Bompastor for Chelsea. Their three wins from three have been broadly comfortable without being convincing, and it is clear that the team and manager are adjusting to each other’s demands. Bompastor hasn’t had it easy with injuries and illness disrupting her preparations, whilst the postponement of Chelsea’s match against Manchester United altered their match rhythm.

It is hard to know how much to expect from the team at this point. Moving on from a manager like Emma Hayes was a big shift but at the same time, pre-season promised a level of intensity that has not materialised. At the end of the day, Chelsea are getting the results they need but the performances will need to start improving soon.

Max Radwan (Arsenal): Arsenal's WSL campaign is less than three weeks old, but the club's start to the season across all competitions has been turbulent to say the least.  The Gunners produced a strong performance against Manchester City on the opening weekend and would have won but for better finishing. Performances in the subsequent two WSL games were extremely disappointing. 

Last Sunday's dour goalless draw against Everton felt like a low point, with a smattering of boos heard around the stadium at the final whistle. Then came Munich. Arsenal shipped three goals in 13 calamitous second-half minutes as they fell to a 5–2 defeat to Bayern in the Uefa Women’s Champions League. So low is the mood music around the club and Jonas Eidevall right now that even a positive result on the weekend may not do much for the Swede's long-term prospects of staying in the job.

Has anything surprised you?

JPH: Aside from signing Lucy Bronze which I think has now been broadly accepted as real, the use of Guro Reiten has raised the most eyebrows. Reiten has predominantly played as a number 10, although she did return to the left wing against Real Madrid. The Norway forward is seen as being more limited in a central role but her out of possession work is invaluable and Bompastor appears to be starting her in the areas where she thinks she will be needed most. 

MR: The most surprising aspect of this season is how quickly things have unravelled. At the start of the campaign, this felt like a make or break season for manager Eidevall. In the wake of Wednesday night's collapse, Arsenal appear to have already hit the "break" stage by early October. Against Everton and Leicester, Arsenal were stifled by stubborn mid-blocks and showed a chronic lack of invention that harked back to the worst moments of last season. Meanwhile the most alarming aspect of the Bayern debacle was the lack of resilience shown. Having made a solid start to the match, Arsenal were never able to recover once the momentum swung in Bayern's favour. The way players’ heads dropped in the closing stages of the match, as the scoreline went from 2–2 to 5–2, pointed to a lack of resilience in the squad that may be beyond repair for as long as Eidevall remains in charge.

Anything that is worrying? 

JPH: The Real Madrid game brought with it a number of concerning defensive lapses. On several occasions, including both goals conceded, a number of players were caught ball watching on second phases in the box. It is understandable to not always know exactly where your teammates are when you are adjusting to a new system but these were fairly basic errors and Madrid were able to capitalise. You would expect players to be even more focused given they want to impress a new manager. Chelsea will have to be more aware of their surroundings against Arsenal.

MR: If the frustrating theme of last season was Arsenal's struggles against low-blocks, then the sequel for 2024-25 is the Gunner's struggle against mid-blocks. Both Leicester and Everton set up with the intention of clogging up the middle of the pitch and stifling Arsenal's central progression, and it worked. With Arsenal lacking a direct and quick winger to unsettle opposition teams, they have instead become over-reliant on Mariona Caldentey, even if the Spain international has been one of their brightest performers in the opening weeks of the season.

The Gunners last two league games have seen them produce some of their worst underlying attacking numbers since Eidevall took charge. Against Leicester they mustered just 10 shots, their second lowest tally in the league since the start of last season, while their xG of 0.7 against Everton was also their second lowest since the start of 23/24. If the early signs are an indicator of what is to come, Arsenal's performances outside of games against their rivals have gotten worse, even from the low-bar set in 2023-24.

What are your expectations for this game? 

JPH: It is strange to go into an Arsenal-Chelsea game and for there to be almost no focus on Chelsea. The combination of Chelsea’s new manager and Arsenal’s sitting duck head coach means eyes will be much more intently trained on Arsenal’s performance. That being said, Sonia Bompastor could not have asked for a better opportunity to get Chelsea a first win at the Emirates Stadium. It was not a happy hunting ground for Hayes but she never faced an Arsenal team in as much disarray as they are now. 

MR: The main focus from an Arsenal perspective on Saturday will be how they respond to such a difficult week. In the second half of the Bayern game, there appeared to be a disconnect between what the players were instructed to do and how these instructions were carried out. In short, the under-fire Eidevall must find a way to lift his squad before accusations of the players downing tools intensify.

Emirates wins against Chelsea in 2021 and 2023, marked by intense pressing off the ball and quick play in transition, are prime of examples of what 'Eideball' at its best looks like. Whether the team that takes to the pitch on Saturday are physically up to reaching those levels again remains another question entirely. Irrespective of the manager's future,  the prospect of welcoming the champions to the Emirates offers Arsenal's players the opportunity to restore some pride in the badge in the immediate term – and prevent their title hopes from being in tatters after just four games played.   

Do you think we will see changes from Bompastor or Eidevall?

JPH: Chelsea’s big question mark at the moment is left back. Bompastor has been getting whoever is playing on the left wing to tuck in and rotate a lot, forcing the left back to push high up. Niamh Charles’ injury has scuppered a plan that was tailor-made for her and it's not exactly clear who can successfully take on the role themselves. Ashley Lawrence started both league games but her right-footedness is a hindrance when it comes to holding the width. The left-footed Sandy Baltimore was used against Real Madrid and did her defensive duties relatively well, but she is a winger. Whichever one is selected in that position will be an early indicator of how gung-ho Bompastor’s approach will be.

MR: On Wednesday night, Eidevall made five changes off the back of a bad performance. We all know how that went. In other words, most of the squad has been tainted by at least one disappointing performance in recent days. I would expect that Eidevall will pick a team best placed to press Chelsea high and exploit transition opportunities, should the Blues take a more aggressive approach compared to what we have been used to seeing at times under Hayes.

With that in mind, this could be more of a Stina Blackstenius game than an Alessia Russo game.  Another intriguing aspect of Eidevall team selection is who starts in the midfield double-pivot. Skipper Kim Little played the full ninety minutes in each of the last two matches and frankly, the 34-year-old looked off the pace in both. Eidevall may have a difficult decision to make regarding his captain when picking his team for Saturday.

Predictions…..

JPH: I’m intrigued to see how Arsenal deal with Mayra Ramirez. She is not yet firing on all cylinders after a busy summer where she played at the Olympics for Colombia, but she showed how dangerous she can be in the air against Real Madrid. Given what Pernille Harder managed on Wednesday night, Chelsea might fancy their chances when it comes to putting balls into the box.

MR: I want to see how this Arsenal side deals with adversity. It was just 18 months ago when Eidevall spoke about his team's need to be "anti-fragile" amid an injury crisis in the second half of 2022-23. His side duly delivered, reaching a Champions League semi-final with a threadbare squad that was running on empty. Those days now feel like a distant memory in the wake of games against Bayern and City where the team's performance levels collapsed after the momentum of the game shifted. How Arsenal acquit themselves on Saturday with the pressure dialled up to one hundred, in front of a home crowd whose patience is waning, will tell us a lot about this team's resilience.