Arsenal's attack has its best opportunity yet to go volcanic against Chelsea

Arsenal take on London rivals Chelsea in their first capital derby of the season on Sunday and they are presented with a chance to go volcanic against their foes.

Both sides have won their first two games of the 2026/27 Premier League season, but in very different circumstances. The Gunners have done so by scoring four goals without conceding while the Blues have been rampant in attack with seven strikes, but shoddy in defence, conceding five times.

If any side is going to go crazy against Chelsea's shaky backline, it will likely be Arsenal, who have already shown this campaign that they won't be the same hesitant side they were over the past two years.

Arsenal's attack has an opportunity to go volcanic against Chelsea

The Gunners have lost their status as a deadly attacking team in recent years, going from a side that emptied stadiums at half-time with four to five goal leads to one that would happily sit on a 1-0 advantage and see a match out. While the latter tactic helped them win the Premier League title last season, this campaign should see Mikel Arteta put a stop to that way of playing.

His side have already looked deadly against Coventry City as they beat the newly promoted side 3-0, as well as defeating Manchester City by the same scoreline in the Community Shield a week earlier. Both games saw Arsenal play quick attacking football that took fans back to the joys of the 2023/24 season.

The 1-0 win at Aston Villa was slightly different as the hosts set up to prevent Arteta's side from playing clever football, but the North Londoners will be looking to reignite their attacking spark against Chelsea.

Arsenal's positive start has seen them win both their league games in confident fashion, but the same can't be said for the Blues. Xabi Alonso's side have not made life easy for themselves in either match as their shakiness at the back has led to them conceding five goals.

While the Gunners aren't known for having the deadliest attack, they should fancy their chances of running riot against Chelsea. They have created a combined 3.41 xG in their opening games while their rivals have conceded 3.04 xG, yet conceding almost two more than they were expected to.

Added to that, Arteta is expected to field a front three made up of Eberechi Eze, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka, with Martin Ødegaard the supporting player in an attacking midfield role. Each of these players have pretty decent records against the Blues.

Eze has one goal and one assist in 13 matches while Saka has netted four and assisted a further four in 14 games against Chelsea. Havertz has enjoyed run-outs with his former side, scoring three in six appearances, and Ødegaard has also thrived against them, assisting five and striking twice.

Alonso's defence has already been pretty shoddy and facing a number of players who enjoy playing against the Blues will bring him absolutely no luck. Arteta should have identified that Chelsea's weak points lie in their backline and he needs to be instructing his side to exploit that.

Arsenal still need to shake off the repuation of being a safe side and there is no better opportunity to do that than going volcanic against one of their rivals, who are tipped to challenge them for the title this season.

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