Arsenal go into this one having conceded nothing in the league so far, and that's the headline fact of their start — two wins from two, four goals scored, none against, with the home banker in that record a 3-0 dismantling of Coventry backed by a 1.88 expected-goals showing that says the performance matched the scoreline. They also won the Community Shield in August, beating Manchester City 3-0 despite seeing only 41% of the ball, which tells me this squad can win games without dominating territory when it needs to. That's a meaningful pattern given Chelsea have also started well.

Chelsea's 2-0 record looks similar on paper but reads differently underneath it. They've shipped five goals in two league matches, including conceding three at home to Brighton in a 4-3 win, and their underlying defensive numbers back up the shakiness — 1.41 expected goals against in that game, 1.33 in a narrow away win at Fulham. They're scoring freely (their attack is clearly functioning, with João Pedro and Cole Palmer both among the league's better early scorers), but a team giving up that many clear chances against mid-table opposition is a team Arsenal's front line should be able to hurt.