The mood travelling to Stamford Bridge was an unusual one. Plenty of Chelsea supporters were almost fearful of Arsenal - and they were right to be.
It's strange. Chelsea haven't really been concerned about their London rivals in recent seasons, despite their poor recent form against the Gunners. But going into Sunday's early kick-off, there wasn’t a great deal of optimism among the fan base.
Apart from one supporter. A little boy, around four or five-years-old – to guess – started chanting "Arsenal get battered everywhere they go" at a tube station on the way to Stamford Bridge. The chant got some laughter from both Chelsea and Arsenal fans on their way to the game. His father turned to him and said: "You won’t be saying that in two hours' time". Unfortunately, the father was right.
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It was actually Chelsea who were battered. A 1-0 score line doesn't suggest so, but Arsenal - who are now two points clear at the top of the Premier League table - could have had four or five. Chelsea were poor. Throughout the 90 minutes, not one moment can be recalled where you believed they would score. Arsenal did well but Chelsea helped their rivals in that regard.
Graham Potter went with a back four formation, largely down to injuries forcing him to do so. Kalidou Koulibaly, although on the bench, was not fit enough to play, so Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah started as the pairing at the back.
Arsenal's press, right from the off, caused Chelsea an abundance of problems. Their passes were sloppy and the service to the attackers was poor. Whenever the likes of Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did get the ball, the hold up play was not good enough. It allowed the visitors to keep stealing possession back and their confidence grew and grew as the match progressed.
It was a performance from Arsenal that should highlight to Potter exactly what he wants to build his Chelsea team into. The Gunners trapped the Blues in at times with their press, with their out-of-possession work almost as impressive as what they did on the ball.
The fluidity of their attackers is something Potter will want to work on. At the moment, despite there being glimpses of the attacking players improving under the newly-appointed Chelsea head coach, nothing seems natural in the final third.
Chelsea have some extremely talented forward options, but against Arsenal, it looked more like a team of individuals rather than the machine Potter wants. Of course, the head coach is yet to have a transfer window to add any new players in that will suit his style more.
"Of course, it always is [disappointing] to lose a game like we did," a deflated Potter said to the media after the match. "We huffed and puffed I thought, but I think you could see the difference between the two teams in terms of confidence, in terms of points they've got, in terms of their structure and work together.
"We're not in a fantastic moment as we speak and in the end, as much as it's not nice to say, I think Arsenal deserved to win the game and were the better team overall. We have to take that and use it as motivation to improve."
Potter knows Arsenal are a lot further down the line in terms of the project they are building under Mikel Arteta. That's clear. It's going to be frustrating at times for Chelsea supporters – that's why it was so surprising to see Potter go unbeaten in his opening nine matches.
It's another transition period. Something we seem to say too frequently about Chelsea, but it's the reality. Next up for the Blues is a trip to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening, which is then followed by another away match – this time in the Premier League – against high-flying Newcastle United in what is the final fixture before the World Cup.
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