Chelsea fell to defeat against Arsenal after goals from Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard ensured Morgan Rogers' early strike counted for little at the Emirates
Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso will hope to keep his team in the title race(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
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Chelsea faced their first slip-up of the season as they fell to defeat against Arsenal. Xabi Alonso's side lost 2-1 as their Premier League title credentials were tested against the champions, and they ultimately fell three points off the pace.
Morgan Rogers handed Chelsea the lead after just two minutes, but the Blues were unable to capitalise as former Chelsea ace Kai Havertz levelled the scores in the opening half. Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard eventually secured the points for the hosts at the Emirates.
The Blues sit in fourth, with Manchester City leading the way with nine points from three matches, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference. Alonso, however, may take inspiration from how his side drew Arsenal into a relentless back-and-forth rarely seen from the north London side.
Asked what he'd learned about the gap in defeat, Alonso said: "I learnt about the game, about us, about what we are doing, what we are starting. The players have this attitude, this desire to compete better game by game to create something we believe in. So far I'm happy. We want to win games, this is the ultimate goal."
Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, was asked about the prospect of Arsenal and Manchester City being the top two teams once again. It will be super hard and the margins as well," the Spaniard said.
"We went to Villa Park and it was a really tough one. We go to Sunderland and it will again be so tough again."
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With that said, the title race is set to see plenty of movement as each week passes. football.london compares the next five fixtures that Chelsea Arsenal and Manchester City face.
Next five Premier League Chelsea fixtures
Hull City (h) - September 12.
Brentford (a) - September 18.
Bournemouth (h) - October 10.
Everton (a) - October 17.
Tottenham (h) - October 24.
Next five Premier League Arsenal fixtures
In addition to their five Premier League fixtures, the Gunners face a trip to Napoli ahead of Sunderland, a Carabao Cup third round clash against Ipswich afterwards, and a Champions League visit from Lille ahead of Nottingham Forest before Bayern Munich welcome the Gunners in the days before Everton.
Sunderland (a) - September 12.
Brighton (a) - September 19.
Leeds (h) - October 10.
Nottingham Forest (a) - October 18.
Everton (h) - October 24.
Next five Premier League Manchester City fixtures
Enzo Maresca's side probably have the most difficult run in the Premier League between the three teams and also face some stiff challenges outside of it. A trip to Porto precedes the Manchester derby before a Carabao Cup clash with Norwich. The visit of Paris Saint-Germain follows a clash with Liverpool, while they also host AEK before the end of October.
Manchester United (a) September 13.
Sunderland (h) - September 20.
Liverpool (a) October 11.
Ipswich Town (h) - October 17.
Aston Villa (a) - October 24.
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