Arsenal's Streak Against Chelsea: Bukayo Saka's Role

Arsenal have forgotten what it feels like to lose to Chelsea. Bukayo Saka has not.

It is more than five years since the Gunners were last beaten by their London rivals, a 2-0 defeat in August 2021. That day, the balance of power between the clubs looked very different. Chelsea’s matchday squad contained more players who now call the Emirates home than Mikel Arteta’s did.

Kai Havertz led the line in blue. Kepa Arrizabalaga watched from the bench. Jorginho ran the midfield. All three have since worn Arsenal colours, two of them already moved on again. With Gabriel Martinelli leaving north London this week, only one Arsenal player from that defeat remains at the club.

Saka. The sole survivor.

Back then he started on the left wing, a small detail at the time, but one that now feeds into the wider debate about how Arsenal use that flank and where their attacking ceiling really lies.

From shed door to steel wall

The transformation behind him has been brutal and total.

In 2021, Arteta sent out a back four of Cedric Soares, Rob Holding, Pablo Mari and Kieran Tierney. It was a defence that creaked, a makeshift unit that looked like it could be blown open by a strong gust swirling around the Emirates.

Chelsea enjoyed themselves that afternoon. Nobody will be expecting a repeat on Sunday.

Now, Arsenal’s defence is the champions’ great weapon. Two games into the Premier League season, two clean sheets. Coventry and Aston Villa have combined for just one shot on target against David Raya.

Across the pitch on Sunday stands one of the division’s most dangerous attacking trios. Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro bring goals, guile and menace. Their battle with Arsenal’s new-look brick wall will shape the game.

But the derby’s defining figure may stand 60 yards further up the pitch.

A superstar question Saka wants to answer

This summer exposed a sore spot. Arsenal chased a top-class forward and came up empty. The narrative hardened: this is a team without a true attacking superstar, a side that leans too heavily on its defensive excellence.

Arteta was asked on Friday whether he believes he has a world-class attacker in his squad. His answer was deliberately vague.

“I love my players, that's all I can say,” he replied. “In that bracket, how you want to put them, I don't know.”

Saka knows exactly where he wants to be placed. So does Thierry Henry. The Arsenal legend told him on Monday night he is waiting for a 15-goal, 15-assist Premier League season from the winger.

Saka has started the campaign with the look of a man ready to chase that demand down. He scored the only goal in the win over Aston Villa, adding to his strike on the opening night against Coventry. Both finishes came from close range, Saka drifting into the six-yard box to pounce on crosses and loose balls. Not just a winger hugging the touchline, but a poacher arriving late and unmarked.

That is new. And it matters.

The 25-year-old has shaken off the Achilles problem that nagged him through last season and into the World Cup. The frustration of that period is fuelling him now. Arteta spotted it as soon as pre-season began.

“I noticed that straight away,” the manager said. “This happens in your career and you need certain motivation, or a little pinch sometimes, to take it to a different level. And there are really good signs that Bukayo is giving to think that is going to be the case.”

Chelsea, again – but a different Saka

Since that 2021 defeat, Saka has faced Chelsea nine times and scored only once. For a player of his talent, that is a modest return.

He will fancy changing that against Xabi Alonso’s side, who have shown plenty of threat going forward but look far less convincing without the ball. Fulham hit them for two on the opening weekend. Brighton scored three the following week. Their three-at-the-back system can leave seams of space down the sides, precisely where Saka thrives.

Jorrel Hato is likely to start as a more conservative wing-back to try to contain him. It still feels like a duel Arsenal will back their No7 to win.

Part of Saka’s sharp start has come from familiar patterns around him. Ben White has started every game at right-back, the pair’s understanding so good it can look telepathic. Martin Odegaard has been bright in the inside-right pockets, sliding passes into Saka’s path and dragging markers away to free his winger.

These are relationships built over seasons, not months. Arsenal did not add a transformative attacker in the summer. The leap forward must come from within.

Saka is the obvious candidate to provide it. In the 2024-25 campaign he scored six league goals; the season before, only one more. Those numbers are solid, not spectacular. If he stays fit, they should not just be beaten, they should be left behind.

From starboy to talisman

Sunday’s game comes early in the season but carries weight. It is a test of Arsenal’s title defence, a gauge of Chelsea’s new era, and a stage for Saka to impose himself on a fixture that has not always bent to his will.

There is an extra edge. Across the divide are Palmer and Rogers, England colleagues and players Arsenal pushed hard to sign earlier in the summer. Saka was asked this week what he made of Chelsea’s revamped squad.

“We’ll see on Sunday,” he said.

The answer will not just be about Chelsea. It will be about him.

The streak against their London rivals is on the line. So is the question that has hovered all summer: do Arsenal already have a world-class forward in their ranks, or are they still searching for one?

For the champions, the need is clear. The defence is set. The structure is built. Now they need their starboy to step fully into the role everyone expects of him.

Not just the survivor from that last defeat to Chelsea.

The man who makes sure it does not happen again.