Chelsea vs Arsenal: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis

Chelsea beat Arsenal 3-2 in their Premier League encounter at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in a game that saw 37 shots in all from both sides. Early goals from Pedro and Alvaro Morata gave Chelsea a 2-0 lead as early as the 20th minute.

However, Arsenal quickly fought back and ended the first half with more chances, scoring twice to make it 2-2 with goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi.

The second half saw both sides a bit more evenly matched but it was the home side that eventually took all three points after Marcos Alonso's goal in the 81st minute.

Here are the major talking points from the game.

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#1 Chelsea's midfield runs get the better of Arsenal's high line

Alvaro Morata (L) and Pedro (R) scored early goals to give Chelsea a 2-0 lead

The problem with Arsenal playing a very high line was that their centre-backs were not the quickest. Both Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos were easily beaten for pace when Chelsea played long balls over the top.

There were early warning signs when both Pedro and Ross Barkley were onside with the defenders quite a few yards behind them. If Barkley had managed to control the ball, it would have left Petr Cech in a 2-v-1 situation.

However, the Blues made it work when Jorginho pierced a ball through the left channel to find Marcos Alonso who had made a run down the flank. With the centre-backs reacting late, Pedro was free to receive his compatriot's cross and score past Cech to make it 1-0.

The home side weren't exactly playing on the counter-attack but that's what it looked like when they had acres of space to work with. The second goal also came too easily when Arsenal's defence pushed up to the half-line and inside Chelsea's half - an error that saw the linesman have no need to even consider an offside decision.

Another long ball (this time from Cesar Azpilicueta deep in his own half) saw Alvaro Morata sprint clear of Mustafi, control the ball, and shoot past the German's challenge and a wrong-footed Cech to double the lead in the 20th minute.

#2 Arsenal wasteful in the first half but fight back to make it 2-2

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed two clear chances in the first half

Before Morata scored the second, Arsenal's best chance fell to arguably their best goalscorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. But the Gabon striker, surprisingly, saw his shot sail over the crossbar.

That seemed to deflate the Gunners and after Morata made it 2-0, Mkhitaryan missed a similar chance, shooting over the bar. Unai Emery, who had masterminded these attacking moves, was a picture of despair on the touchline, cursing in disbelief before encouraging his players.

Arsenal had found a weakness, though - Chelsea's full-backs. Alonso was having a tough time dealing with Hector Bellerin going wide while Mkhitaryan cut in behind him. Unfortunately, he did not receive much help from Willian who had a rather poor outing.

A series of moves saw Arsenal simply cut the ball back to the centre of the box and that is how Iwobi got his goal. Mkhitaryan's goal was even better as he pounced on a loose ball unleashed a shot from outside the box that beat Kepa at the post.

In all, it was a thrilling first half with both defences struggling and the Gunners should have been in front considering the kind of chances they had to go ahead.

#3 Xhaka-Guendouzi partnership did not work though Guendouzi impressed

Granit Xhaka struggled in the first half and was substituted at half-time

It was Arsenal's second game of the season but Lucas Torreira was still not considered fit enough to start the game and had to be satisfied with a place on the bench.

Instead, Emery deployed Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi in a double pivot role in midfield in the 4-2-3-1 formation.

The pairing did not work and the two players were playing on opposite sides too with Xhaka playing on the right while Guendouzi was on the left. Both players had also been instructed to track Ross Barkley and N'Golo Kante respectively.

It was evident that they were being pulled further apart for the wingers to make runs through the centre (as Pedro did time and again). Kante also managed to make rare forays forward and, had he been more clinical with his final pass or shots, Chelsea could have scored more.

With Xhaka also getting booked for a foul before the half-hour mark, Emery decided to hook him off at half-time to introduce Torreira for the second half.

There was no need to replace Guendouzi, though, as the 19-year-old was very calm and composed, always available for a pass in midfield.

#4 Jorginho dominates on the ball but exposed off it, Mesut Ozil disappoints

Jorginho and Mesut Ozil had contrasting games in midfield

With Chelsea playing a 4-3-3, it wasn't Kante anchoring their midfield. It was Jorginho in the middle with Kante and Barkley to either side. While Barkley was in a pure attacking role, Kante was tasked with the box-to-box role.

Sarriball requires a team to dominate possession and Chelsea saw more than 60% of the ball. And their attacks flowed through Jorginho in the middle of the park.

The problem was that Arsenal's Mesut Ozil - the closest player to the Italian - was not up to the mark in putting pressure on the midfielder and allowed him both space and time to make decisions.

It was the former Napoli man's pass that opened up Arsenal for the first goal and his pass success rate was in the 90s.

But when Arsenal had the ball, Jorginho was exposed time and again by either Iwobi or Mkhitaryan who made runs inside on either side of him. With only one holding midfielder, that is another area where Chelsea were exposed.

Meanwhile, Ozil was unable to affect proceedings, especially in the second half, and Emery had no choice but to take him off with Aaron Ramsey waiting to take his place.

#5 Eden Hazard comes on and changes the game

Eden Hazard came up with the game-winning assist

With the score still at 2-2, Sarri decided to give Eden Hazard a few minutes with the Belgian still being used cautiously after a long World Cup campaign. Chelsea were instantaneously energised as a result and looked far more threatening with Arsenal failing to test Kepa like they did in the first half.

Hazard's runs and dribbles on the left made him a constant threat and Hector Bellerin was guilty of abandoning his defensive duties at times. The third goal seemed inevitable and it was Hazard who created the opportunity out on the left.

Bellerin, looking to track Alonso's run, was neither committed to blocking Hazard nor tracking Alonso, allowing the Belgian to slip the ball through for Alonso to take it first time and beat Cech. Torreira was also guilty of allowing Alonso to get into the box unimpeded.

41 - Only Frank Lampard (90), Didier Drogba (55) and Gianfranco Zola (42) have more Premier League assists for Chelsea than Eden Hazard (41). Magician. pic.twitter.com/FvgPVmJoqb

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 18, 2018

Chelsea have six points now while Arsenal are yet to get off the mark. But judging by the chances they had, they should have been more clinical to make this an even contest.