Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in the first real major Premier League heavyweight clash of the new campaign – in an early contender for game of the season.

Both London rivals produced a Sunday afternoon treat which rubberstamped Arsenal’s credentials as the team to beat – and Chelsea’s as worthy challengers for the top honours.

A pulsating game started right from the off as Morgan Rogers – sought after by Arsenal this summer – crashed new club Chelsea ahead after just 77 seconds. That poked the bear of the champions – who produced a response.

After Riccardo Calafiori saw a goal disallowed for offside, former Blue Kai Havertz got his fourth goal against his old club for Arsenal with a strike from the edge of the box.

But despite a dominant Arsenal display, Chelsea still went inches away from a second as Rogers curled wide and Pedro Neto hit the post.

Arsenal turned the tide after the break as Martin Odegaard scored his second goal of the season via a slick team move – which was a carbon copy of the attack that saw him score in the Community Shield against Man City.

And despite some half chances for Chelsea, it was Arsenal who looked more likely to add to their tally – as Emiliano Martinez smartly kept out Bukayo Saka and Ezri Konsa in quick succession. That was until Estevao produced an 89th-minute curler – which needed tipping over by David Raya.

The result means Arsenal stay perfect – level with Manchester City after three games. But Chelsea have shown they will not be far behind…

The reigning champions meet the assigned closest challengers in Sunday’s Premier League main event, which sees Arsenal welcome Chelsea to the Emirates Stadium for a mouth-watering London derby.

Neither side has slipped up in any competition yet this season, but at least one 100% record will cease to exist when Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso shake hands.

On-field elation and off-field exasperation has been the theme for Arsenal since the new campaign kicked off, as a gritty 1-0 triumph over Aston Villa on August 31 was soon overshadowed by an activity-less transfer deadline day.

While Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta sanctioned multiple attacking exits – Gabriel Jesus, Ethan Nwaneri and new record sale Gabriel Martinelli – not a single reinforcement arrived on September 1, as the Gunners failed to seduce Julian Alvarez into a U-turn and opted not to firm up their interest in Malick Fofana.

One all-too common injury in the final third now has the potential to derail Arsenal’s title defence – at least in the eyes of glass-half-empty Gooners – but three wins, three clean sheets and seven goals from the current crop is hardly bad going.

However, three is both a crowd and a collector’s item for Arsenal, who have only won their first three matches of a Premier League season once in the last 21 years – that streak came in the 2022-23 campaign.

Capital clashes have been the hosts’ forte in recent years, though, as Arsenal have avoided defeat in each of their last 16 Premier League London derbies, earning 12 victories and playing out four stalemates.

At the opposite end of the perfection scale, Chelsea’s unblemished record in 2026-27 thus far has been built on an astounding attack rather than a diligent defence, evidenced by a league-high 12 goals being scored in the Blues’ two outings.

Chelsea’s unmissable 4-3 success over Brighton & Hove Albion belongs in the ‘Prime Barclays’ category, as Xabi Alonso’s men raced into a 3-0 lead, were pegged back to 3-2, restored a two-goal advantage and survived an injury-time scare to prevail.

Only goal difference is keeping the visitors below Arsenal in the Premier League table at the time of writing, and Chelsea could now win their opening four games of a season in all tournaments for the first time since 2016-17 – Antonio Conte’s title-winning campaign.

Fast starts have been key to the Blues’ success so far, as Alonso’s men are just the second Premier League team in history to score in the first four minutes of their opening two games of a season, following in the footsteps of the 2002-03 Bolton Wanderers unit.

However, Chelsea have been bested in each of their last three matches against Arsenal, who have gone over five years without suffering defeat to their London rivals, last ending up on the wrong end of the scoreline in August 2021.

Dogged defending from Real Betis was rewarded when Troy Parrott pounced to score a late winner in a 1-0 La Liga victory over Real Madrid, extending Los Verdiblancos’ unbeaten home H2H record to five games (W2, D3).

The hosts had to endure an early onslaught from Los Blancos as Jose Mourinho’s men tried to silence the crowd.

Dean Huijsen had the first major chance of the game, but at full stretch, he could only guide a deep cross onto the palms of Alvaro Valles.

The Betis goalkeeper was left helpless minutes later, but his goalpost came to the rescue after some neat interplay around the box involving Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler, with Vinicius Junior ultimately hitting the upright from a tight angle.

That appeared to be something of a wake-up call for the home side, who subsequently started to show signs of life.

Antony was their brightest spark, winning a series of corners and forcing Thibaut Courtois into a diving save at his near post.

Nevertheless, Betis’ defensive heroics were required again just before the interval, with both Natan and Marc Bartra blocking Mbappe’s efforts on the line after he looked set to score from Vinicius’ selfless pass.

Mbappe went close to breaking the deadlock just after the restart when he whistled a curling effort wide, but the visitors struggled to maintain any pressure.

Betis weren’t causing any danger in attack, but they looked comfortable at the back, leading to a frustrated Mourinho making a triple change just after the hour mark.

Manuel Pellegrini, meanwhile, made changes of his own, and one of them provided the breakthrough with 10 minutes to go. Courtois did well at full stretch when saving Nelson Deossa’s header from a corner, but Parrott reacted quickest to turn the loose ball into the net from close range.


The drama wasn’t over, however, as Carlos Espi’s late equaliser was ruled out by VAR, only for a needlessly clumsy challenge from Natan on Vinicius Junior to concede a penalty deep into injury time.

Mbappe took his time in the run-up, but his poor penalty was saved by Valles to clinch all three points to send Betis joint top of La Liga with both Real Madrid and Barcelona on nine points.

Mourinho, meanwhile, suffers his first defeat in this second spell in charge of Real, which is hardly the best preparation for his team’s UEFA Champions League opener against another of his former teams, Inter Milan.