Chelsea travel to Arsenal on Sunday afternoon for a London derby, and current Gunners star Jorginho is someone who’s experienced the fixture from both sides.
Arsenal host Chelsea this weekend at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League, which is a meeting between second and fourth in the division table.
First of all, Enzo Maresca’s side need to navigate their way through the second leg of a Conference League tie against Copenhagen on Thursday evening.
Jorginho, 33, has been playing his club football in London for nearly seven years.
The experienced Italian midfielder played for Chelsea between 2018 and 2023 before moving across the capital to join rivals Arsenal. Incidentally, Jorginho was surprised when Chelsea sold him because his exit nearly two years ago came about very suddenly.
Club Appearances Goals Assists Trophies
Chelsea 213 29 8 4
Arsenal 76 2 3 0
Jorginho’s record in English football via Transfermarkt
Jorginho captained the Gunners and played 90 minutes on Wednesday night versus PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League. Let’s wait and see if Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta uses him against his former club on Sunday.
Photo by Visionhaus
Photo by Visionhaus
Tammy Abraham said Jorginho changed the Arsenal vs Chelsea game in 2019
Jorginho has been involved in many Arsenal-Chelsea battles over the years, including a memorable fixture on 29 December 2019.
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During the 2019/20 season, Chelsea recorded a 2-1 away victory over Arsenal in the Premier League. The contest was largely decided by Jorginho’s introduction as a half-time substitute.
Arsenal led at the interval because of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal. However, the Blues took three points because of late second-half goals from Jorginho and Tammy Abraham.
Back in 2019 after Chelsea’s win over Arsenal, Abraham gave midfield general Jorginho huge praise for his impact. He told TNT Sports: “I give credit to the boys, I give credit to Jorginho.
“The first 30 minutes they dominated the ball, they were popping us in midfield, then this man [Jorginho] comes on and it was a whole different ball game. Him coming on lifted the whole team and the second half was a better performance.”
Goals Touches Passes Passing accuracy Tackles Interceptions Rating
1 68 54 88.9% 1 6 7.63
Jorginho’s Chelsea performance vs Arsenal in December 2019 via WhoScored
When he was on form, Jorginho was capable of dictating games for Chelsea from the centre of the park. The deep-lying midfield playmaker wasn’t always the most popular individual, but he’s a Champions League winner and finished third in the Ballon d’Or awards in 2021.
It’s interesting to see there’s a connection of former Blues players in the Arsenal ranks right now.
Jorginho convinced Kai Havertz to join Arsenal from Chelsea in 2023. In addition, Raheem Sterling is currently on loan with the Gunners this season after being allowed to leave Stamford Bridge.
Photo by Visionhaus
Photo by Visionhaus
Do Chelsea miss Jorginho?
Overall, we’d say that the Chelsea squad is coping without Jorginho, and his sale came at the right time for all parties.
In the current Blues midfield, they have top-quality options such as Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. Also, Andery Santos is joining Chelsea’s group next season after a successful loan spell with Strasbourg.
If there is one criticism of Jorginho’s exit, it’s that he’s exactly the type of experienced leader that the young Chelsea group is crying out for right now. He’s a brilliant example in the dressing room that could’ve rubbed off on the youngsters.
During an interview in February, Joe Cole sent a plea to Chelsea’s owners to make sure they recruit more experienced individuals to help the squad.