Struggling Arsenal on course for worst start to Premier League season

Gunners have lost first two games without scoring - against Brentford and Chelsea - with champions Manchester City next up at Etihad Stadium

ARSENAL RATINGS: Bernd Leno – 7. Kept his side in with a glimmer of hope with one stunning save from a Lukaku header in the second half. Little chance with the goals. Reuters

Cedric Soares – 5. The attacks might not as been as frequent as on the other flank, but he still had his work cut out dealing with Alonso and Havertz. Getty

Rob Holding – 5. Booked for a desperate lunge at Alonso, headed wide when he should have scored, and had a torrid day in defence. AFP

Pablo Mari – 4. Ragdolled by Lukaku for the opening goal. Booked for a tackle behind on the same player. Such a difficult afternoon.

Kieran Tierney – 6. All effort, but looked exhausted after half an hour of having to cope with James and Mount with little assistance. AP

Albert Sambi Lokonga – 6. A sweet early crossfield pass to Tierney suggested a bright afternoon, but the going was tough from then on. Booked for a foul on compatriot Lukaku. Reuters

Granit Xhaka – 5. His first involvement was to get whacked in the face by a James shot. Played the rest of the game like a bear with a sore head.

Bukayo Saka – 4. Too often not precise enough with either his positioning or his touch, and looked way short of fitness. Withdrawn on the hour. EPA

Emile Smith Rowe – 6. Had the odd bright moment, but found his way to goal blocked, and looked tired and dejected by the end. Reuters

Nicolas Pepe – 7. Looked in the mood with a surging run early on, and his effort rarely dimmed. The brightest of the home side’s forwards. Getty

Gabriel Martinelli – 5. Seemed miscast as the centre forward, as he was offside any time he got near influencing the play. Moved deeper with the introduction of Aubameyang, but limped off. Getty

SUBS: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 6. At least gave Arsenal a reference point in attack after he came on for Saka, although it hardly led to much of a threat. Reuters

Nuno Tavares – N/A. On for the injured Tierney. Leant some energy to the attack from left back as the hosts tried vainly to chase the game late on. Getty

Folarin Balogun – N/A. Little chance to impress after his late introduction. Getty

CHELSEA RATINGS: Edouard Mendy – 7. Showed poise with the ball at his feet in the rain, tipped over a drive by Saka acrobatically, and swept up astutely to thwart Aubameyang. EPA

Andreas Christensen – 7. The fact that the Dane is so often anonymous in games is testament to his tidiness at the back. No alarms, no trouble. Getty

Antonio Rudiger – 7. Snubbed out a rare chance for Martinelli, and generally patrolled the backline smartly. Getty

Cesar Azpilicueta – 7. Tenacious as standard, with his standout moment being a courageous last-ditch block to stop a Smith Rowe shot. Getty

Reece James – 9. Laid the opener on a plate for Lukaku, and threatening whenever he was in a crossing position. Richly deserved his goal. Reuters

Jorginho – 6. Not quite the influence he so often is, but he did not need to be given Chelsea’s overwhelming dominance. EPA

Mateo Kovacic – 7. Laid the platform for Chelsea’s fine attacking display with his industry and economical use of the ball. Getty

Marcos Alonso – 7. Overshadowed by James on the other flank, although he clearly enjoyed his afternoon, too – evidenced by one flashy backheel. Getty

Mason Mount – 7. Potent alliance with James, and some sharp dribbling on the other flank, too, added up to a fine display.

Kai Havertz – 8. Plenty of exquisite touches, most notably the one that started the move that led to James’ goal. EPA

Romelu Lukaku – 9. Did not have to be a £97 million striker to score the tap in that marked his return to Chelsea colours, but he had showed his power in getting to that position. A colossal presence. EPA

SUBS: N’Golo Kante – NA. It is a marker of where the two sides are at present that Chelsea could be this much better than Arsenal even though Kante was sat on the bench for most of it. Reuters

Timo Werner – NA. Not entirely forgotten about already, seeing as he got an appearance fee at the end, but he does feel like old news. Getty

Hakim Ziyech – NA. A speedy return to action after his shoulder injury in the Super Cup, as he was introduced late on for Mount. Reuters

The Arsenal supporters were allowed to fill the Emirates Stadium for the first time in 17 months. They booed the team off at half-time.

The biggest spenders in the transfer window ended the day in the relegation zone, for the first time, outside the opening weekend of seasons, in Premier League history. With no European football, for the first time in a quarter of a century, Arsenal contrived to find another way to register a new low.

“A difficult and unprecedented situation,” said Mikel Arteta. Arsenal have lost to capital rivals who won the Championship play-offs and the Champions League respectively last season, in Brentford and Chelsea.

With the champions of England, in Manchester City next, Arsenal may find themselves in a 35-game season, playing catch-up. If their awful August of 2011, culminating in an 8-2 thrashing at Old Trafford, seemed certain to forever remain their worst start to a Premier League campaign, perhaps it is not any more.

It is a moot point where luckless ends and hapless begins but Arsenal have been both. Ben White was supposed to be a signing to signal their ambition, a £50 million ($68.4m) playmaker from the back. He began his Arsenal career by being dominated by Brentford’s Ivan Toney in a way to encourage any striker with aerial ability. He was then sidelined by Covid, which is set to keep him out of Saturday’s trip to the Etihad.

In his absence, Pablo Mari followed up a lamentable performance against Brentford with a still worse one against Romelu Lukaku and Chelsea. Arsenal’s weak defence conformed to every unflattering stereotype about them.

In attack, Arsenal started the season without a specialist senior striker. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang mustered the last half-hour against Chelsea after a solitary training session and could not faulted for being ineffectual.

After last year was his worst in front of goal for a decade, he has lacked the chance to rebut the theories that he is not being paid lavishly to decline after getting a lucrative contract extension last year. With a weakened Aubameyang and no Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal have not yet scored this season.

Gallery: Arsenal 0 Chelsea 2

If they have failed in both penalty boxes, the midfield has suffered in Thomas Partey’s absence. Arsenal have felt ill-prepared for the start of the season in every section of the team. Bukayo Saka’s minutes have been rationed after Euro 2020. Martin Odegaard was not signed in time to feature against Chelsea. Gabriel Magalhaes has not played due to injury.

But they have also caused their own problems. The choice of Calum Chambers at right-back, ahead of specialists, backfired at Brentford. Arteta can micro-manage his team tactically yet was impassive when Reece James was repeatedly free on Sunday. The marginalised Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who has excelled against Chelsea in the past, has been an unused substitute in both games.

Arteta is entitled to ask to be judged when he has a full complement of players, when Odegaard, Smith Rowe and a fully-fit Saka can be reunited in an exciting contingent of creators and when White and Gabriel could form a centre-back partnership with the potential to stay together for years.

Yet he was spared a vocal kind of scrutiny last season, escaping any negative reaction from fans in stadia. Arsenal are starting to feel in permanent transition and while Arteta is recruiting and developing players whose peak may lie far into the future, that does not grant him a pass for another year. Nor can they write this campaign off yet.

“I don't think the season is over after two games,” said the stand-in captain Granit Xhaka. But, already, it feels like another year of underachievement beckons.