| Arsenal F.C. v Chelsea F.C. | |
| Other Names: | North West London derby |
| City Or Region: | London |
| First Contested: | 9 November 1907 Chelsea 2–1 Arsenal |
| Teams Involved: | Arsenal Chelsea |
| Most Wins: | Arsenal (83) |
| Top Scorer: | Didier Drogba (13) |
| Mostrecent: | 23 April 2024 Premier League Arsenal 5–0 Chelsea |
| Total: | 209 |
| Series: | Arsenal: 83 Drawn: 60 Chelsea: 66 |
| Largestvictory: | Chelsea 6–0 Arsenal (22 March 2014)[1] |
| Stadiums: | Emirates Stadium (Arsenal) Stamford Bridge (Chelsea) |
The Arsenal F.C.–Chelsea F.C. rivalry is a rivalry between London-based professional association football clubs Arsenal Football Club and Chelsea Football Club. Arsenal play their home games at the Emirates Stadium, while Chelsea play their home games at Stamford Bridge.
Overall, Arsenal have won more games in the rivalry's history, having won 83 times to Chelsea's 66, with 60 draws (as of 23 April 2024).[2] Arsenal's record win was a 5–0 victory in a Premier League match at Emirates Stadium on 23 April 2024, and Chelsea's record win was a 6–0 victory at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on 22 March 2014. Didier Drogba holds the mark for the most derby goals with 13 in all competitions.[3]
The clubs have contested five major finals: the 2002 FA Cup final, which Arsenal won 2–0, the 2007 League Cup final, which Chelsea won 2–1, the 2017 FA Cup final, which Arsenal won 2–1, the 2019 Europa League final, which Chelsea won 4–1, and the 2020 FA Cup final, which Arsenal won 2–1.
While they never considered each other primary rivals, as two of the biggest and most successful clubs in London there has always been strong needle between the fans dating back to the 1930s. Matches between them would often attract large attendances.
The Arsenal and Chelsea rivalry has been more recently considered an important derby, after Chelsea's rise to the top class of the Premier League in the 2000s, when the two started to compete constantly for the Premier League title.
According to an internet survey of fans in December 2003, the Arsenal fans who responded to the survey said that they considered Chelsea as their third rival, after Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.[4]
Those Chelsea fans who responded to the survey said that they considered Arsenal as their main rival, however Tottenham and Fulham are their more traditional rivals.[4]
In a 2008 survey by the Football Fans Census, Arsenal fans named Chelsea as the club they disliked the most, ahead of their traditional rivals Tottenham. Chelsea fans named Arsenal as their second most-disliked club, behind Liverpool.[5] A 2014 Bleacher Report article ranks Arsenal as Chelsea's second-most hated rival.[6]
The first league meeting between the two teams took place on 9 November 1907 at Stamford Bridge. This was the first Football League First Division game played between two London clubs and drew a crowd of 65,000.[7] A match between the clubs at Stamford Bridge in 1935 drew a crowd of 82,905,[8] the second highest recorded attendance for an English league match.[9] They met in two close contested FA Cup semi-finals in the 1950s, with Arsenal winning both times. In the 1960s Chelsea dominated the tie with 14 wins, two draws and just two losses during the decade.[10]
The two teams have met in the quarter-finals of the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League, with Chelsea winning 3–2 on aggregate to go through to the semi-finals.[11]
In 2006, the transfer of Ashley Cole from Arsenal to Chelsea further stoked the rivalry, as Cole had been caught meeting Chelsea officials months before.[12]
The 2007 Football League Cup final was one of the most noted incidents. The game was marred by a fracas involving Frank Lampard, Cesc Fàbregas and others that resulted in yellow cards for the two and three other players sent off, the dismissal of Emmanuel Adebayor and incidents of Chelsea fans throwing celery at Arsenal players.[13] This led the media to dub it the "Snarling Cup final".[14] [15] The match ended in a 2–1 victory for Chelsea.
On 27 December 2010, Chelsea came into the Emirates having beaten Arsenal five times in a row by a goal difference of 13–2, only for Arsenal to win the match 3–1.[16] [17]
On 29 October 2011, Arsenal won 5–3 at Stamford Bridge after coming from behind twice, with Robin van Persie scoring two late goals and completing his hat-trick. It is widely regarded as one of the most memorable and best games between the two sides.[18] [19] [20] [21]
On 22 March 2014, in Arsène Wenger's 1,000th game in charge, Chelsea won 6–0. This marked the most goals Chelsea had scored against Arsenal, Chelsea's biggest margin of victory against Arsenal and the joint heaviest margin of defeat suffered by Wenger at Arsenal.[22] Notable incidents in the match included Chelsea jumping out to a three-goal lead inside of 15 minutes, as well as the sending off of Kieran Gibbs by referee Andre Marriner for a handball committed by his teammate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.[23]
On 5 October 2014, Chelsea beat Arsenal 2–0, which meant Arsenal manager Wenger had not won against José Mourinho in twelve attempts. This game also featured former Arsenal captain Cesc Fàbregas playing against his former club for Chelsea for the first time, recording an assist on Diego Costa's goal. The match, however, is most notable for a touchline fracas that occurred between the managers in the technical area during the fierce match.[24] On 2 August 2015, Wenger finally recorded a win against Mourinho, defeating Chelsea 1–0 in the 2015 FA Community Shield.[25]
On 24 September 2016, Arsenal beat Chelsea 3–0 at the Emirates Stadium. It was the first time Arsenal scored against Chelsea since 2013, and Arsenal's first win over The Blues since 2011 in the Premier League. All three goals were scored in the first half by Alexis Sánchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Özil.[26] [27] It was Arsenal's biggest win over Chelsea since 1997.[28]
The two teams have met in the 2017 FA Cup final, where Arsenal won their record 13th FA Cup trophy by defeating Chelsea 2–1.[29] Arsenal repeated the feat in the 2017 FA Community Shield, winning 4–1 on penalties after the match ended 1–1. It was also the first time the "ABBA" penalty taking system has been used by The Football Association.[30] On 29 May 2019, the two teams met in their first-ever European final, doing so in the Europa League, where Chelsea defeated Arsenal 4–1 to clinch their second title in the competition.[31] The game was also the final career match of Petr Čech, who played for both teams between 2004 and 2019.[32] The next season, Arsenal and Chelsea contested in another FA Cup final, which ended in a 2–1 victory for Arsenal with two goals by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, securing their 14th title.[33]
In the 2020–21 Premier League, Arsenal completed their first Premier League "double" over Chelsea since 2003–04 after winning both games of the season.[34]
Below are the players and managers who played for or managed both clubs.[35] [36] [37]
| Arsenal | Competition | Chelsea | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | |||
| 13 | 6 | ||
| style=background:#EBD79B | 14 | 8 | |
| 2 | 5 | ||
| 17 | 4 | ||
| 46 | Domestic total | 23 | |
| International | |||
| — | 2 | ||
| 1 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (defunct) | 2 | |
| — | UEFA Europa League | 2 | |
| — | 2 | ||
| 1 | Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (defunct) | — | |
| — | 1 | ||
| 2 | International total | 9 | |
| 48 | Total aggregate | 32 | |
As of match played 23 April 2024[2]
| Club | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | |||||
| Arsenal | 174 | 69 | 51 | 54 | |
| Chelsea | 174 | 54 | 51 | 69 | |
| FA Cup | |||||
| Arsenal | 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | |
| Chelsea | 21 | 5 | 6 | 10 | |
| EFL Cup | |||||
| Arsenal | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Chelsea | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | |
| UEFA Champions League | |||||
| Arsenal | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Chelsea | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| UEFA Europa League | |||||
| Arsenal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Chelsea | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| FA Community Shield | |||||
| Arsenal | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Chelsea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals | |||||
| Arsenal | 209 | 83 | 60 | 66 | |
| Chelsea | 209 | 66 | 60 | 83 | |
| Date | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 October 1992 | 2–1 | |
| 16 April 1994 | 1–0 | |
| 15 October 1994 | 3–1 | |
| 16 December 1995 | 1–1 | |
| 4 September 1996 | 3–3 | |
| 8 February 1998 | 2–0 | |
| 31 January 1999 | 1–0 | |
| 6 May 2000 | 2–1 | |
| 13 January 2001 | 1–1 | |
| 26 December 2001 | 2–1 | |
| 1 January 2003 | 3–2 | |
| 18 October 2003 | 2–1 | |
| 12 December 2004 | 2–2 | |
| 18 December 2005 | 0–2 | |
| 6 May 2007 | 1–1 | |
| 16 December 2007 | 1–0 | |
| 10 May 2009 | 1–4 | |
| 29 November 2009 | 0–3 | |
| 27 December 2010 | 3–1 | |
| 21 April 2012 | 0–0 | |
| 29 September 2012 | 1–2 | |
| 23 December 2013 | 0–0 | |
| 26 April 2015 | 0–0 | |
| 24 January 2016 | 0–1 | |
| 24 September 2016 | 3–0 | |
| 3 January 2018 | 2–2 | |
| 19 January 2019 | 2–0 | |
| 29 December 2019 | 1–2 | |
| 26 December 2020 | 3–1 | |
| 22 August 2021 | 0–2 | |
| 2 May 2023 | 3–1 | |
| 23 April 2024 | 5–0 |
| Date | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 March 1993 | 1–0 | |
| 20 November 1993 | 0–2 | |
| 14 May 1995 | 2–1 | |
| 30 September 1995 | 1–0 | |
| 5 April 1997 | 0–3 | |
| 21 September 1997 | 2–3 | |
| 9 September 1998 | 0–0 | |
| 23 October 1999 | 2–3 | |
| 6 September 2000 | 2–2 | |
| 8 September 2001 | 1–1 | |
| 1 September 2002 | 1–1 | |
| 21 February 2004 | 1–2 | |
| 20 April 2005 | 0–0 | |
| 21 August 2005 | 1–0 | |
| 10 December 2006 | 1–1 | |
| 23 March 2008 | 2–1 | |
| 30 November 2008 | 1–2 | |
| 7 February 2010 | 2–0 | |
| 3 October 2010 | 2–0 | |
| 29 October 2011 | 3–5 | |
| 20 January 2013 | 2–1 | |
| 22 March 2014 | 6–0 | |
| 5 October 2014 | 2–0 | |
| 19 September 2015 | 2–0 | |
| 4 February 2017 | 3–1 | |
| 17 September 2017 | 0–0 | |
| 18 August 2018 | 3–2 | |
| 21 January 2020 | 2–2 | |
| 12 May 2021 | 0–1 | |
| 20 April 2022 | 2–4 | |
| 6 November 2022 | 0–1 | |
| 21 October 2023 | 2–2 |
| Arsenal wins | 26 | |
| Draws | 18 | |
| Chelsea wins | 20 | |
| Arsenal goals | 92 | |
| Chelsea goals | 85 | |
| Total matches | 64 |
| Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 16 | 9 | 7 | 51 | 36 | |
| Chelsea | 13 | 9 | 10 | 49 | 41 |