Arsenal vs Chelsea: Gunners stamp authority, but Blues are contenders too

Arsenal’s pedigree as defending Premier League champions faced its first big test of the season, with the Gunners hosting title aspirants and big spenders Chelsea on the third matchday.

It is not often that games built up with such hype and expectations live up to their billing, but Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea certainly delivered on Sunday.

Breathless action , sub-plots galore and a total of 99 minutes and 35 seconds of edge-of-your-seat football drama.

We may only be three rounds into the marathon 38-game Premier League season, but it was the first real test of the credentials for Arsenal and new-look Chelsea after their $473m summer outlay .

Here are five things we learned from the featured clash at the Emirates.

What do you get when you pit arguably the league’s meanest defence against one of its most exciting new attacks? The scoreline might suggest it was a close game, but in reality, it wasn’t.

Chelsea did muster 13 shots on goal, but eight of those came from outside the box, and they combined for an expected goals statistic of 0.35. The Blues had just 25 touches inside the Arsenal penalty area.

Of the 30 Premier League games played among all 20 teams so far, Arsenal have now recorded three of the four lowest totals of expected goals scored against them.