Arsenal player ratings vs Chelsea: Summer signing and goalscorer impress as star man scores 9/10

Read the original at Evening Standard ↗
Cite

Verri, M. (2026, September 6). Arsenal player ratings vs Chelsea: Summer signing and goalscorer impress as star man scores 9/10. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal-fc-player-ratings-odegaard-havertz-chelsea-b1295943.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-09-06 · by Matt Verri

Quick Summary

Arsenal player ratings were provided by Matt Verri, who was at the Emirates Stadium to assess the team's performance against Chelsea. The article highlights key performances from several players, with Martin Odegaard scoring 9/10 for his "true captain's display", including a trademark finish that gave Arsenal the lead. Other notable performers include Kai Havertz (8), Christos Tzolis (8), and Gabriel (8) who made crucial headed clearances in the closing stages.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-07, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Arsenal's Strong Start to the Season

Arsenal have kept two clean sheets in their opening two matches of the season, showcasing their impressive strength in defence. In contrast, Chelsea won 4-3 against Brighton last time out, displaying an attacking prowess that could prove a challenge for Arsenal.

Chelsea's New-Look Attack

Chelsea's new-look front three of Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, and Joao Pedro have been frightening in attack, with Rogers having already opened his account in his new colours on his league debut against Fulham. This match will be a key test for Arsenal's defence.

Injury Updates

Reece James could start in midfield for Chelsea, where he is expected to deploy him this season, and his importance in that position is due to grow after Enzo Fernandez departed for Manchester City and the transfer of Lamine Camara collapsed. Jordan Henderson has not yet played for his new club due to a wrist injury suffered at the World Cup.

How to Watch

This match will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage set to start at 4pm BST ahead of the 4.30pm BST kick off. Sky subscribers can stream the match live on the Sky Go app and website.

Predicted Lineups

Arsenal's predicted XI vs Chelsea (3-4-2-1): Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Saka, Partey, Xhaka, Trossard; Martinelli, Nketiah

Chelsea predicted XI vs Arsenal: Martinez; Fofana, Lacroix, Colwill; Neto, Lavia, James, Hato; Rogers, Palmer; Joao Pedro

Written for “Arsenal vs Chelsea Match Prep” on 2026-10-22, grounded in this article and the 31 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Arsenal vs Chelsea Match Prep
Sports · 32 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 9 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles refer to a football match between Arsenal and Chelsea on Sunday afternoon at the Emirates Stadium”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 1 of 9 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles are reporting on a football match between Arsenal and Chelsea that took place on the same day (September 6, 2026)”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 20% hedged 2 of 10 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles refer to a football match between Chelsea and Arsenal on September 6th, 2026”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 24 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles refer to a football match between Chelsea and Arsenal on September 6, 2026”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 39 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles mention a recent match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 10% hedged 2 of 21 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles cover the same Premier League football match between Arsenal and Chelsea on September 6, 2026, providing different types of coverage (a live update vs. player ratings)”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 20 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles report on the same football match between Arsenal and Chelsea on September 6, 2026.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 6 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles reference a football game between Arsenal and Chelsea on September 6th, 2026”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 10% hedged 2 of 20 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles report on the same football match between Chelsea and Arsenal on September 6, 2026, at the Emirates Stadium”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 31 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles report on the same soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea on the same day”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
14
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
65/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
32
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-07 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 6440 article(s) · 56 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 56 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Matt Verri
92 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 Well, for one night and you would expect one night only, the shackles were released.
🔮 Worked tirelessly but there was a sense Davies’ influence grew once Saka was off and he felt he could stay forward more.
🔮 Those plans were ripped up inside the opening ten minutes of the match in what will be a significant concern for Arteta.
🔮 "Yes, I would love to," Raya said.
🔮 Jurrien Timber is likely to come in at right-back, as he continues to share the minutes with Ben White. In midfield, Myles Lewis-Skelly will hope to get his chance over Bruno Guimaraes, while Martin Zubimendi is available again and “will be involved” after a minor hamstring issue.
🔮 He is not expected to be involved in Arsenal's showdown with Bayern on Wednesday night but his absence is not likely to be a lengthy one.
🔮 Got Williams booked early on but then did not do enough to test him.
🔮 It had not cost them this week, when three slow starts have still delivered three wins, but it will catch up with them.
🔮 Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta revealed after the match that Saka had been dealing with a minor illness issue, but he is expected to be ready to start against Forest in the Premier League.
🔮 "For example, after the game with Lille, he came in and he’d made a massive impact and you could see straight away what he did on the pitch.
Also by Matt Verri
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 92 articles by Matt Verri →

Topics

Arsenal Chelsea

Subjects

Arsenal ORG · 5× Odegaard PERSON · 4× Havertz PERSON · 3× Chelsea ORG · 2× Joao Pedro PERSON · 2× Martinez PERSON · 2× Rogers PERSON · 2× Saka PERSON · 2× David Raya PERSON · 1× Matt Verri PERSON · 1×

Narrative

So bright in leading Arsenal’s response to the early goal and then fired them in front with what is becoming a trademark finish, making late run into the box.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-07

Claims (14 extracted, 0 hedged)

Matt Verri was at the Emirates Stadium to rate the Arsenal players... David Raya 8 Stunning late save to deny Estevao. asserted
Verri → rate → Estevao
Arsenal’s best moments came when he combined with Saka and Odegaard down the right, flying forward on the overlap. asserted
he → come → overlap
Ezri Konsa 7 Thrown in at the deep end, with Arsenal happy to leave him one-on-one with Joao Pedro and had some tough moments. asserted
Arsenal → throw → moments
But his perfect sliding challenge to stop Rogers on the counter was cheered like a goal and no Arsenal player made more clearances. asserted
player → slide → clearances
Marshalled those around him as Chelsea put the pressure on and ensured they stayed firm. asserted
they → marshal → pressure
Played near enough every position in his hour on the pitch but Neto tested him defensively. asserted
Neto → play → him
Declan Rice 7 His positive pass through to Havertz led to goal. asserted
pass → lead → goal
Not quite as dominant in midfield as he often is, with Chelsea enjoying success on the counter. asserted
Chelsea → enjoy → counter
So bright in leading Arsenal’s response to the early goal and then fired them in front with what is becoming a trademark finish, making late run into the box. asserted
what → lead → box
Christos Tzolis 8 Again produced that low, fast ball into Odegaard’s path to open up a defence. asserted
Tzolis → produce → defence
Miles better than he was at Villa Park, creating four chances. asserted
he → create → chances
Did not stop working either - nobody on the pitch covered more distance. asserted
nobody → stop → distance
Then produced a glorious dummy to create the space for Odegaard’s finish, and another wonderful flick almost led to a Saka goal. asserted
flick → produce → goal
Substitutes: Piero Hincapie (Calafiori 65’) 7 Relentless intensity to his defending, as you’d expect, charging into the challenges. asserted
you → expect → challenges
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