Premier League: Emery’s difficult start at Arsenal continues against Sarri’s Chelsea

Chelsea and Arsenal’s new regimes under Maurizio Sarri and Unai Emery got off to contrasting Premier League starts, but Saturday’s clash between the two will provide a truer test of where the London rivals stand.

Failure to qualify for this season’s Champions League provoked big changes at both clubs.

But while Chelsea are used to the upheaval of coaches coming and going under Roman Abramovich, Arsenal are still settling into Emery’s new era after 22 years with Arsene Wenger in charge.

The early signs suggest it will take Emery time to stem years of decline towards the end of Wenger’s reign.

However, the Spaniard had the misfortune to face champions Manchester City on his Premier League debut as Arsenal were outclassed in a 2-0 defeat on home soil last weekend.

Sarri has also insisted it will take at least two months to implement the free-flowing attacking style that made him a coach in demand at Napoli.

But, despite a disrupted pre-season due to his late arrival at Stamford Bridge to replace Antonio Conte, the departure of Thibaut Courtois and speculation over a host of other key players, Chelsea were too good for Huddersfield in an opening day 3-0 win.

There were already clear hallmarks of Sarri’s influence as Jorginho, who followed his boss from Napoli to Chelsea in the summer, controlled the midfield.

Chelsea are likely to be even stronger this weekend as Eden Hazard could return to the starting line-up after he shone in a 15-minute cameo at Huddersfield following his World Cup exertions with Belgium.

Conte won just one of eight meetings with Arsenal in two seasons in charge. A quick reversal of fortunes this weekend would suggest Sarri is headed in the right direction.

Slow start for Emery

Unai Emery couldn’t have asked for a tougher start to life as Arsenal manager as hot on the heels of defeat to Manchester City in his Premier League bow, the Gunners travel to Chelsea on Saturday.

The task facing Emery to turn Arsenal merely back into contention for the top four, after missing out on the Champions League for the past two seasons, let alone title challengers was laid bare as City cruised to a 2-0 win at the Emirates.

Reversing seasons of decline towards the end of Arsene Wenger’s 22-year reign was never going to be a quick fix, particularly with Arsenal’s spending over the summer not near the top of the Premier League arms race.

Emery’s decision to not start £20 million new recruit Bernd Leno in goal was therefore even more of a surprise as Petr Cech kept his place.

Veteran Cech, 36, struggled with Emery’s demands to play out from the back against City and almost scored a comical own goal by passing the ball inches past his own post.

Cech subsequently became embroiled in a Twitter spat with Leno’s former club Bayer Leverkusen and Emery’s tactics were branded as “stupid” by former England manager Sam Allardyce.

However, Emery insists he will keep faith with Cech on his return to Stamford Bridge, where he enjoyed 11 years as a Chelsea player, and vowed to stand by his principles.

“You shouldn’t change your mentality if you lose the first game. I want consistency,” said Emery on Thursday.

“Against Manchester City, the team kept their ideas, kept their spirit in the game for the full 90 minutes, even when we were losing, and didn’t let (their heads) go down.

“That was a good thing, despite us losing 2-0. I want us to continue with this work and to be competitive for 90 minutes, but with a better performance than on Sunday.”

Building from the back

Despite the early gloom, there remains plenty of hope for the new era at the Emirates.

An attacking quartet of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil will pose a serious threat when afforded more of the ball than against City.

And Emery has already begun to address systemic problems Wenger was long accused of overlooking.

On top of Leno, Arsenal’s summer signings have all be brought in with an eye to strengthening a porous defence.

Defenders Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Stephan Lichtsteiner may be in their thirties but provide an experience and a cynical edge Arsenal have lacked for so long.

Meanwhile, Matteo Guendouzi and the tough tackling Lucas Torreira bring a youthful energy to the midfield that should provide a more solid base behind the creative talents of Ozil and Mkhitaryan.

Arsenal’s wretched away form in the Premier League last season is what cost them a place in the top four and finally Wenger his job.

The Gunners won just four of their 19 away trips and failed to even muster a single point on the road between December and the final day of the season. A record Emery is keen to improve on quickly.

“Saturday is a very good option to show our personality, our capacity against a big team like Chelsea, and away from home,” he added.

“(We) have an opportunity to change last year’s difficulties when the team played away. On Saturday we need to be a more competitive team on the pitch to change these away performances.”

Spurs’ home from home

After failing to sign a single player in the transfer window, Tottenham’s poor month off the field continued with the news this week that the club’s new stadium won’t be ready until at least October.

That means Mauricio Pochettino’s men will play their first three home games of the season at Wembley, starting with the visit of Fulham on Saturday.

Pochettino has vowed to deliver wins for fans frustrated by the delay.

And more fixtures at the home of English football might not be a handicap on Spurs’ ambitions. After failing to win any of their first three home games last season, Tottenham won 13 of the next 16 Premier League games at Wembley once they adjusted to their new surroundings.

Time for City’s squad to shine

City’s victory at Arsenal without ever hitting top gear last weekend was ominous for the challengers trying to stop Pep Guardiola’s men becoming the first side in a decade to retain the title.

But City were dealt a huge blow when Kevin De Bruyne suffered a serious knee injury in training on Wednesday, expected to keep the Belgian sidelined for at least two months.

If any squad is equipped to deal without a world class talent like De Bruyne, it is probably the one at Guardiola’s disposal.

Bernardo Silva starred against Arsenal and Chelsea in the Community Shield from a more central role with new signing Riyad Mahrez starting on the right.

David Silva is yet to play a minute this season and 18-year-old Phil Foden has been tipped by Kyle Walker to take his chance in De Bruyne’s absence.

“We don’t just rely on one player. It’s a team game and whoever steps in will do well,” said Walker. “Obviously, it’s a big loss but we’ve got more than enough cover.”

Life without De Bruyne begins at home to Huddersfield on Sunday.