Arsenal vs Chelsea: An all-time classic London rivalry

Friday 20 October 2023 by Jonathan Victoria  Features

Arsenal and Chelsea may seem to be in two completely different places currently in terms of their standards, but history shows these two as fierce rivals with a strong claim to being London’s club.

Their storied rivalry has seen fixtures across multiple competitions and a number of finals, but every time they match up, the fans show out to make it a silverware-winning occasion.

The Premier League is back this weekend and while there are a few other good fixtures lined up - Merseyside Derby, Manchester City vs Brighton and Aston Villa vs West Ham are other highlights - nothing compares to this London matchup (sorry not sorry Tottenham vs Fulham on Monday).

Ahead of the game this weekend, we’re looking at the history between these two clubs, including the all-time stats and record holders, as well as previous fixtures and our prediction.

Arsenal vs Chelsea: A quick history lesson

The rivalry between these two dates back to the 1930s but it has really only taken off properly since the early 2000s when Roman Abramovich took over the Blues.

Since then, Chelsea have had the better success, winning five Premier League titles over Arsenal’s zero since their historic Invincibles title. Chelsea have also won the big one, the Champions League, twice in that time - one piece of silverware Arsenal has never won.

But before this time, Arsenal easily had the measure of Chelsea. Prior to Abramovich, Chelsea only had one First Division title which came in the 1954/55 season. Arsenal already had seven by that time and added another six until their last one in the 2003/04 season for a total of 13 league titles.

The Gunners are easily the more successful domestic club. They have an English record 14 FA Cups and have lifted 17 Community Shields. Chelsea aren’t a slouch in the FA Cup either, though, with eight titles to their name.

Going back to the start of their history, they first faced off on 9th November 1907 at Stamford Bridge, a game which Chelsea won 2-1.

There have been some players who have swapped allegiances between the two. Just this summer Kai Havertz swapped blue for red. Ashley Cole was one of the big names to make the swap, as were Emmanuel Pettit, Olivier Giroud and Petr Cech.

Arsenal vs Chelsea: All-time results

Arsenal and Chelsea have faced off a total of 207 matches with the Gunners sharing the majority of the spoils with 82 wins to Chelsea’s 66 and 59 draws.

The largest victory came in March 2014 when peak-powers Chelsea put on a show for their home crowd by beating Arsenal 6-0.

They have played in numerous different competitions. 172 of their games have come in the Premier League/First Division where again Arsenal have the better record with 68 wins to Chelsea’s 54 and 50 draws.

In the FA Cup, they have met 21 times, again with Arsenal picking up more wins with 10 to Chelsea’s five. They have also met up three times in the Final in 2002, 2017 and 2020, all of which Arsenal came away with the victory.

They also met in the 2019 Europa League Final, where Chelsea dominated by winning 4-1. Arsenal may be better in England, but Chelsea certainly are the better European competition side.

Chelsea also won in the 2007 League Cup Final that was contested between these two, winning 2-1.

Arsenal vs Chelsea: Stats

Arsenal vs Chelsea: Last five results

Arsenal have dominated the last five meetings, winning four times to Chelsea’s one. This is a fair reflection of the vastly different directions either team has been in since last season.

Arsenal also have a superior aggregate score of nine goals to five.

• 2nd May 2023 – Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea, Emirates Stadium
• 6th November 2022 – Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal, Stamford Bridge
• 20th April 2022 – Chelsea 2-4 Arsenal, Stamford Bridge
• 22nd August 2021 – Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea, Emirates Stadium
• 12th May 2021 – Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal, Stamford Bridge

Arsenal vs Chelsea: Prediction

Arsenal are one of only two teams left unbeaten in the league so far this season. They have taken down the likes of Manchester City twice and Manchester United already and are likely going to go on to challenge for the league title again like they did last year.

Chelsea spent over £400m in the summer and lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest just in September.

There are levels to these two sides right now, and it’s Arsenal who are far ahead right now. They are more organised and have been working together for much longer, Mikel Arteta has a clear and concise gameplan and they are succeeding because of all that.

Chelsea still looks like a thrown-together mess, spending big but with nothing to show for it. They have looked better recently and are unbeaten in their last three games in all competitions, including a win over Brighton in the League Cup.

But the nod has to go to Arsenal, who simply seem far more capable of achieving something this season and are a rather tough team to beat on even their average days.

We’re going to say a 3-1 win to Arsenal, with starman Bukayo Saka making his return and turning in a Man of the Match performance.

Arsenal vs Chelsea: How to watch

Arsenal vs Chelsea will be the afternoon kickoff on Saturday, with kickoff set for 17:30pm. The late kickoffs on Saturdays are always shown exclusively on Sky Sports in the UK, so if you’re not a Sky customer or don’t have Sky Sports currently, be sure to get yourself set up now.

Check out our Sky Sports deals page to find some of the best offers currently and choose one that is right for you.