How Arsenal Have Become the Yardstick to Measure Chelsea’s Strength

There was a time when Chelsea’s visits to north London confirmed one thing—that Arsenal were top dog in the capital.

While the Blues had visions of toppling the Gunners’ dominance in London, no matter how good their form was, they were rarely capable of getting one over on them. Even at Stamford Bridge—even when leading a match 2-0—they were never good enough. There was always a Nwankwo Kanu or Nigel Winterburn lurking and ready to punish them.

In the last dozen years or so, that’s all changed. From being a measure of Arsenal’s position of strength, whenever Chelsea face Arsene Wenger’s side these days, the fixture has become all about the west London side; now we use it as a yardstick to judge Chelsea’s position of health.

And a lot of the time, they beat the Gunners. Not since October 2011 have the Blues lost to their capital rivals in the Premier League.

It’s a simple formula: When the going’s good, and the Blues are looking ready to win the big prizes, Chelsea are beating Arsenal. But when the Blues are in a slump and looking weak, an Arsenal victory seems to confirm it.

Such has been the dilution of Arsenal’s power, it’s as though they have to sniff an air of vulnerability about Chelsea in order to get anything from them. If the Stamford Bridge club are fine-tuned and relentless, we can judge their frame of mind by how convincingly they beat the Gunners.

It’s because of this that Antonio Conte faces his biggest test as Chelsea boss this weekend—taking his team to the Emirates Stadium is his moment of truth.

Forget the recent defeat to Liverpool or the fact the Blues had to come through a difficult EFL Cup tie against Leicester City in midweek; it’s facing Arsenal that will ultimately tell us where Conte’s team is right now.

All those double training sessions have been building to this, but has there been progress? Have Chelsea regressed? Are they moving forward? We’re going to find out.

So how did it get like this for Chelsea? Well, let’s take a closer look.

Invincibles Prove, Well, Vincible

Until the arrival of Roman Abramovich in 2003, Chelsea had beaten Arsenal just three times in the Premier League. Of the other 19 matches, the north Londoners had won 12 of them.

Even when Abramovich pumped over £150 million into the club that summer, the Gunners still completed a league double over the Blues, winning home and away in 2003/04.

In the FA Cup, the Gunners were also dominant, beating Chelsea 2-1. Indeed, that fifth-round victory at Highbury in February 2004 was followed a week later by the exact same scoreline in the league, but this time at Stamford Bridge.

It was in the climax of that season when the breakthrough came, though. Wayne Bridge’s late winner in the Champions League saw Chelsea advance into the semi-final at Arsenal’s expense, crushing their dream of becoming the first London club to go all the way in the competition.

Being the Invincibles and remaining undefeated in the Premier League that season, Wenger’s men weren’t so in Europe. Chelsea got the better of them for the first time in any competition since a 5-0 League Cup win in November 1998.

Suddenly a psychological switch had been flicked courtesy of Bridge’s boot. The pendulum was swinging back in Chelsea’s favour.

The Special One Arrives

We know how Jose Mourinho introduced himself to English football in the summer of 2004.

Mourinho was undoubtedly the Special One by the way he swooned into Stamford Bridge with a swagger that immediately elevated Chelsea’s status. Little did we know it, it was doomsday for Arsenal.

Mourinho’s Chelsea would come to haunt the Gunners, with Wenger never once winning a competitive fixture against the Blues when the Portuguese was in charge.

It was with the former Real Madrid boss at the helm that Chelsea have looked at their strongest in the Abramovich era. He was the manager who took the club to their first title in 50 years in 2005 and introduced them to the elite.

Michael Caine would have been proud: Mourinho “blew the bloody doors off” as he placed Chelsea firmly at the Premier League’s top table. He had to knock Arsenal off their perch in the process, and Wenger’s men have never shown the sort of desire to usurp them ever since.

That first campaign under Mourinho was about creating a feeling of intensity around Chelsea. They sucked the life out of opponents to feed their own aura and crushed Arsenal in the process. From Invincibles in 2003/04, they were also-rans to Mourinho’s Blues within 12 months.

As well as being Premier League champions, 2004/05 was the first season in a decade that the Blues went undefeated against Arsenal. We were witnessing a new kind of elite and Chelsea were leading it.

Wenger The ‘Voyeur’

Not content with winning the battle on the pitch against Arsenal, Mourinho took it into the dugout. Frustrated …

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