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

Arsenal have forgotten what it feels like to lose to Chelsea. More than five years have passed since the Blues last beat them in the League.

That defeat, back in August 2021, belongs to a different era. On that day, there were more players in Chelsea blue who would later wear an Arsenal shirt than there were future stalwarts in Mikel Arteta’s XI.

Kai Havertz started for Chelsea. Kepa Arrizabalaga sat on the bench. Jorginho ran the midfield in blue. All three have since called the Emirates home, Jorginho already having come and gone.

With Gabriel Martinelli’s departure from north London this week, only one Arsenal player who featured that afternoon remains at the club as reigning Premier League champions prepare for Chelsea’s visit.

Bukayo Saka.

From creaking back line to Arsenal’s superpower

The contrast between then and now is starkest at the back.

In 2021, Arteta sent out a defence that felt flimsy and outdated. Rob Holding and Pablo Mari were the centre-backs, Cedric Soares and Kieran Tierney the full-backs. It looked less like a platform and more like an invitation.

Chelsea accepted. They found space, created chances, and walked away with a comfortable win.

Fast forward to this season and Arsenal’s defence is their defining weapon. Two games, two clean sheets, and just a single shot on target conceded across matches against Coventry and Aston Villa. For David Raya, it has been a quiet start behind what resembles a reinforced wall rather than that old, rattling shed door.

Chelsea arrive with serious firepower of their own. Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro form one of the most dangerous attacking trios in the division. Their duel with Arsenal’s back line will go a long way to deciding the mood at the Emirates by full-time.

But it is higher up the pitch where this derby feels like it needs a statement. And where Arsenal need Saka more than ever.

The last survivor – and the one under the spotlight

Saka is the only player in the current squad who has tasted defeat against Chelsea in an Arsenal shirt. That 2021 meeting saw him start on the left wing, a detail that lingers in the background as debate continues over Arsenal’s options on that flank.

Since then, the conversation around the attack has shifted. This summer, Arsenal pushed for a top-class forward and came up short. The narrative has been clear: this is a team missing a true superstar in the final third, someone who can churn out goals and ease the pressure on that outstanding defence.

Asked on Friday whether he believes he has a world-class attacker in his ranks, Arteta did not exactly hammer his fist on the table.

“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 will feel he belongs in that bracket. Thierry Henry certainly does. On Monday night, the Arsenal legend told him he is waiting for a 15-goal, 15-assist Premier League season from the winger.

Saka responded on the pitch. He scored the only goal in the win over Aston Villa, adding to his strike on the opening night against Coventry. Two games, two goals, and a familiar zip to his play.

The Achilles problem that nagged him through last season and into the summer World Cup has eased. He looks lighter, sharper, angrier in the best possible way.

Both of his goals so far have come from close range, Saka ghosting into the six-yard box to finish crosses or react to loose balls. If that instinct becomes a habit, it adds a new, ruthless edge to his game.

Arteta spotted the change in him early.

“I noticed that straight away,” the manager said of Saka’s mentality in pre-season. “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 memories, Chelsea target

Since that 2021 defeat, Saka has faced Chelsea nine times and scored just once. The record does not fit the player he has become.

He will sense an opportunity now. Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea side carry menace going forward but leave gaps at the back. Fulham scored twice against them on the opening weekend. Brighton hit three a week later. The three-at-the-back system offers space in wide areas, and Saka will expect to find it, even if Jorrel Hato is used as a more defensive wing-back to try to contain him.

He will not be doing it alone. This is a right flank built on understanding.

Ben White has started every game behind him at right-back, their partnership bordering on telepathic. Martin Odegaard, operating in those half-spaces inside Saka, has looked bright and close to his sharpest again. The patterns are familiar, the combinations slick.

Arsenal did not land the transformational forward many expected this summer. The solutions must come from within. Saka is the most obvious candidate to stretch his ceiling.

In the 2024-25 campaign he scored six league goals; the season before, only one more. Those numbers feel modest compared to his talent and workload. If he stays fit, they should not just be beaten – they should be smashed.

Time for the “starboy” to become the talisman

Sunday’s game carries weight. It is early in the season, but it is Chelsea, it is at the Emirates, and it is a chance for Saka to impose himself on two England team-mates Arsenal admired closely in the summer: Palmer and Rogers.

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

We will. And so will everyone else.

The unbeaten run against Chelsea stretches into a new chapter, the defence looks as mean as ever, and the search for a true attacking talisman continues.

All eyes fall on the No7. Arsenal do not just need their starboy to shine. They need him to own this derby and, with it, the direction of their season.