Arsenal's Streak Against Chelsea: Bukayo Saka's Unique Perspective

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

More than five years have passed since the Gunners were last beaten by their London rivals, a 2-0 defeat at the Emirates in August 2021. It was a very different Arsenal, a very different Chelsea, and a very different Saka.

Back then, the visitors’ squad was littered with names that would later cross the divide. Kai Havertz started in blue. Kepa Arrizabalaga and Jorginho were on the teamsheet too. All three have since called the Emirates home at some point.

For Arsenal, only one player from that day remains in Mikel Arteta’s squad after Gabriel Martinelli’s departure this week.

Saka. The sole survivor.

From “ageing shed door” to brick wall

The contrast between that afternoon and the Arsenal that walk out on Sunday could hardly be sharper, especially at the back.

Arteta sent out Rob Holding and Pablo Mari as his centre-backs in 2021, with Cedric Soares and Kieran Tierney at full-back. It looked makeshift. It played like it. Chelsea found space, found joy, and found the net.

Now? The defence is Arsenal’s superpower.

Two games into the Premier League season, two clean sheets. Coventry and Aston Villa have managed just one shot on target between them. What used to resemble an “ageing shed door” now feels like reinforced steel in front of David Raya.

That solidity will be tested. Chelsea arrive with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro – one of the most dangerous attacking trios in the division. How they cope with Arsenal’s new-look back line will shape the afternoon.

But the real story may lie further forward.

Saka’s moment to own the derby

Saka is the only player in this Arsenal squad who has actually lost to Chelsea in red and white. In that 2021 defeat, he started on the left wing – a small detail, but a relevant one given the constant debate about Arsenal’s options on that flank.

He comes into this derby sharper, angrier, and more important than ever.

Arsenal spent the summer chasing a top-class forward and came up empty. The big-name superstar signing did not arrive. The conversation has circled the same point: this is a team that still needs a truly ruthless attacking figure, someone whose numbers reduce the burden on that superb defence.

Asked on Friday if he believes he already has a world-class attacker, Arteta did not bite.

“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 where he wants to be placed. Thierry Henry does too. The Arsenal legend challenged him directly this week: 15 goals and 15 assists in a Premier League season. That is the standard.

The No7 has started as if he intends to chase it. He scored the winner against Aston Villa and had already found the net on the opening night against Coventry. Both goals came from him arriving in the six-yard box, sniffing out chances like a poacher rather than a traditional winger.

If that becomes a habit, Arsenal’s attack changes gear.

Fit again, fired up, and surrounded by familiar faces

Saka’s form is even more encouraging given what he has just come through. The Achilles problem that bothered him last season and during the World Cup has finally eased. He looks free in his movement, free in his mind.

Arteta spotted it the moment 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.”

The numbers against Chelsea tell him there is still work to do. Since that 2021 defeat, Saka has faced the Blues nine times and scored only once. For a player with his ambitions, that will sting.

He will like the look of this Chelsea, though. Xabi Alonso’s side carry a threat up front but leave gaps at the back. Fulham put two past them on the opening weekend. Brighton scored three the following week. Their three-at-the-back setup can be pulled apart in wide areas, and that is exactly where Saka lives.

Even with Jorrel Hato likely to start as a more conservative wing-back, space should be there if Arsenal move the ball quickly enough.

It helps that Saka is operating in a familiar framework. Ben White, his partner in crime on the right, has started every match at full-back, their understanding so sharp it often looks pre-planned. Inside him, Martin Odegaard has been bright, drifting into those pockets that allow Saka to receive the ball higher, closer to goal.

This is not a new attack. Arsenal did not land the transformative forward many expected. The solutions must come from within.

Saka is the obvious candidate to lead that internal revolution.

From starboy to talisman?

The numbers from recent seasons suggest there is still another level to climb. In the 2024-25 campaign he scored six league goals. The year before, he managed only one more. Good returns, but not yet the haul of a player dominating the division.

Stay fit, and those totals should rise. Stay fit, and Arsenal’s ceiling rises with them.

Sunday’s derby is more than a local skirmish. It is a chance for Saka to outshine his England team-mates Palmer and Rogers, both heavily admired – and, in Rogers’s case, strongly pursued – by Arsenal earlier in the summer.

Asked this week what he made of Chelsea’s new look, Saka kept it simple: “We’ll see on Sunday.”

We will. Because for all the talk of systems, signings and defensive records, Arsenal’s season may hinge on one question.

Can their starboy finally turn into the talisman they cannot do without?