Arsenal Player Ratings vs. Chelsea: Gunners Win the Only Way They Know How

A set-piece-fest was won by the Premier League leaders in north London.

Arsenal claimed victory in a contest dominated by set-piece success. | Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

Arsenal responded to Manchester City’s gritty victory at Leeds United by edging a set-piece-dominated London derby with Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners were far from free-flowing from open play against a well-drilled but formulaic Blues side bereft of much invention, so they leaned heavily on a method of chance-creation that has served them so well in recent years.

However, Chelsea, too, had their fair share of success from set pieces, and they canceled out William Saliba’s headed opener thanks to Piero Hincapié’s own goal just before half-time. That set up a crucial second half, with the angst inside the Emirates Stadium only starting to brew when Mikel Arteta’s Premier League leaders restored their lead.

Pedro Neto’s subsequent red card should’ve made life easier for the hosts, but they lived dangerously in the closing stages as Chelsea threatened to steal a point that would have emboldened City’s title tilt. Instead, Arsenal reclaimed their five-point advantage at the summit.

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Winners and Losers

Arsenal’s summer signings failed to build on their NLD brilliance. | Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

In truth, this was a game bereft of attacking quality. For Arsenal, summer signings Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyökeres failed to build on their excellent displays in the north London derby, with the former anonymous and the latter clunky and clumsy once more.

Bukayo Saka, meanwhile, was unable to make the most of a favorable matchup on paper against Jorrel Hato, who deputized for Marc Cucurella and arguably produced a better performance than anything the Spaniard has been able to produce when he’s locked horns with Arsenal’s star winger.

However, Nicolas Jover was once again thrust into the limelight, as a sluggish Gunners made the most of their dead-ball situations to lift them to victory. Three of Arsenal’s starting defenders were involved, with Gabriel and William Saliba combining for the opener before Jurriën Timber attacked Declan Rice’s pinpoint in-swinger to restore the hosts’ lead.

They’ve now scored a record-equalling 16 goals from corners this Premier League season.

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Arsenal Player Ratings vs. Chelsea (4-2-3-1)

Arsenal’s center backs combined for the opening goal. | Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: David Raya—8.1: Chelsea made life very difficult for Raya at set pieces, but the Spaniard dealt with the threat pretty well. Stretched late on to prevent an Alejandro Garnacho cross from creeping in.

RB: Jurriën Timber—8.3: Made the most of Cole Palmer’s defensive lapses and offered plenty of offensive thrust. His second-half header proved decisive.

CB: William Saliba—7.8: Arsenal supporters have undoubtedly seen cleaner Saliba showings, but the Frenchman dealt pretty well with Cole Palmer’s threat when he jumped into midfield, and he also opened the scoring in the first half.

CB: Gabriel—8.2: Had another good battle with compatriot João Pedro, with each having their moments. Gabriel’s back-post work from an Arsenal corner in the first half led to their opening goal.

LB: Piero Hincapié—5.8: Dominated Pedro Neto while the Portuguese was stationed on his flank, but it was his flick from James’s corner that ensured Chelsea went into the half-time interval all-square.

DM: Declan Rice—7.8: Rice produced a couple of standout recovery sequences, and his set-piece delivery was once again a potent weapon.

DM: Martín Zubimendi—7.2: Had a few hearts in mouths at times in possession, and it wasn’t an easy outing for the Spaniard, given the positions Palmer took up.

RW: Bukayo Saka—7.0: Supporters probably expected more from Saka in his match-up, but the winger at least provided a threat with his set-piece delivery.

AM: Eberechi Eze—6.8: Eze couldn’t make the most of his moments on the edge of the Chelsea box, as he almost certainly would’ve done had the Blues been playing in lilywhite.

LW: Leandro Trossard—6.5: Unsurprisingly, was the first man withdrawn after an ineffective 55 minutes. Reece James had few issues containing the Belgian.

ST: Viktor Gyökeres—6.3: Reverted to type against a competent Premier League center-back pairing. The striker didn’t make the most of his opportunities in the channel.

SUB: Gabriel Martinelli (55’ for Trossard)—6.4: Far brighter than the man he replaced, and was responsible for getting Neto sent off.

SUB: Kai Havertz (76’ for Gyökeres)—6.5: Held the ball up superbly at times after returning from injury.

SUB: Christian Nørgaard (76’ for Rice)—5.9: A lengthy Premier League cameo by his standards, but there wasn’t too much to note.

SUB: Noni Madueke (90’ for Saka)—N/A

Subs not used: Kepa Arrizabalaga (GK), Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Gabriel Jesus, Riccardo Calafiori, Noni Madueke.

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What the Ratings Tell Us

Arsenal just about saw out three points. | Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

• Arsenal have been plagued by defensive lapses in 2026, with Gabriel guilty, or at least partly guilty, in costly mistakes at Bournemouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, the Brazilian didn’t allow any errors to compromise a stellar showing against Chelsea, with the defender dominating in both boxes to help inspire the Gunners’ win.
• Jurriën Timber bounced back superbly with a match-winning performance. A poor run of form culminated in his early substitution in last week’s north London derby, but Arteta retained his faith in the stout Dutch right back for Sunday’s game, and rightfully so.
• Are Arsenal going to rely on Leandro Trossard down the stretch? A useful player who can produce a big moment or two, but the Belgian has generally underwhelmed for the Gunners lately.

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The Numbers That Explain Arsenal’s Nervy Win

There were plenty of scrambles from set-pieces. | Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

• Arsenal allowed Chelsea to have 59% of the ball in north London, with the Blues able to steer clear of the hosts’ vaunted press. Moreover, the Gunners often took the direct route in possession and limited their number of build-up sequences.
• The Gunners’ set-piece defending came under fire, as they were forced to deal with ten Chelsea corners on Sunday afternoon.
• The Blues generated more set-piece xG than Arsenal, but Arteta’s men were more efficient, scoring from two of the five corners they had.
• The two teams created just 0.89 xG from open-play.

Statistic	Arsenal	Chelsea
Possession	41%	59%
Expected Goals (xG)	1.13	1.05
Total Shots	12	9
Shots on Target	5	3
Big Chances	2	2
Passing Accuracy	82%	88%
Fouls Committed	11	14
Corners	5	10

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