Ahead of Arsenal vs Chelsea clash, the Blues already know how to prepare for Bukayo Saka. That is the problem facing Xabi Alonso before a Sunday’s trip to the Emirates.
Saka, Arsenal’s biggest star, is also their most predictable threat. Everyone expects the right-sided England international to be the focal point, and Alonso’s Chelsea staff will spend the week planning how to stop him.
The player who could truly disrupt those plans is Eberechi Eze. Not because he is currently better than Saka. He isn’t. The point is different.
Eze gives Arsenal a profile they have sometimes lacked. He is a player capable of receiving between the lines, carrying the ball through pressure, and creating from the left without simply becoming another version of Saka. That makes him one of the most intriguing players to watch in Arsenal vs Chelsea.
Saka has started the 2026/27 season strongly. He scored in both of Arsenal’s opening Premier League wins — the 3-0 victory over Coventry City and the 1-0 win at Aston Villa.
Arsenal remain unbeaten and yet to concede a league goal. Chelsea have also taken maximum points from their first two matches but have been far more open, scoring seven and conceding five. Saka will rightly be the player most people expect to decide the contest. Chelsea will prepare accordingly.
Eze’s skill is recent and clear. Against Aston Villa, Christos Tzolis struggled to get the better of Matty Cash on the left. Arteta made the change at half-time. Eze came on and immediately lifted Arsenal’s attacking threat. Eze received the ball between the lines, found Riccardo Calafiori, and the Italian’s cross was finished by Saka for the only goal of the game.
The Standard noted that Eze “made the difference in a top-class cameo” and offered far more threat than Tzolis had managed. That is the version of Eze Chelsea must prepare for. He is not a conventional wide player, but one who drifts inside, links with Martin Ødegaard, and carries the ball rather than simply receiving it.
If Eze starts on the left, Chelsea faces a genuine dilemma. Do they treat him like a traditional winger and stay wide, or do they follow him into the left half-space and risk opening space elsewhere?
Eze can start wide and move inside. He can drop deeper to receive. He can combine quickly with Ødegaard. When midfielders track those runs, gaps appear on the opposite side — exactly the kind of spaces Saka thrives in. The stronger argument is not that Chelsea should fear Eze instead of Saka. It is that Eze may be the player who makes Saka hardest to contain.
Alonso’s side has looked dangerous going forward. Cole Palmer, João Pedro and Morgan Rogers have provided the bulk of their early threat. The defensive structure, though, remains a work in progress after five goals conceded in two league games.
Tracking Eze’s movements consistently while also dealing with Saka, Ødegaard and Kai Havertz is a tall order. If Chelsea’s midfield is dragged around, Arsenal’s full-backs and central midfielders can exploit the resulting gaps. That is the tactical problem Eze creates. It is not about individual brilliance alone. It is about forcing a choice that has consequences.
When Eze draws attention inside, Saka often finds more room on the right. The two players do not need to be identical. They need to complement each other.
Eze’s ability to occupy defenders in different zones is exactly what can create that complementarity. Chelsea already know how to prepare for Saka. They may not yet know what to do with Eze.
The Villa game offered a useful snapshot. Tzolis found it difficult against Cash. Once Eze entered, Arsenal’s left side changed character. The move that produced Saka’s goal began with Eze receiving between the lines.
The Saka scoring sequence is the clearest recent illustration of the point. Eze does not have to score or dominate the ball for 90 minutes. He only has to force Chelsea’s midfield into a decision that ultimately gives Saka more freedom.
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Chelsea’s biggest mistake would be preparing for Eze as though he were simply another left winger. If Alonso’s midfield follows him inside, Arsenal can create the space Saka wants. If they don’t, Eze gets the freedom to turn and attack.
Either way, Chelsea has a problem, and that is why Eze may be the player who decides how much freedom Saka gets on Sunday.
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