LONDON -- Strip it all back -- the new managers, new systems and the respective ownership issues at Chelsea and Arsenal -- and this season is about one thing and one thing only for both clubs -- getting back into the UEFA Champions League.
Having finished fifth and sixth respectively last season, Chelsea and Arsenal will spend this campaign on the outside, looking in, when the elite contest the Champions League, so Maurizio Sarri has clearly made a better start than Unai Emery in the race to seal a top-four finish this time around.
Chelsea's 3-2 win against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge made it two wins out of two for Sarri since the Italian replaced Antonio Conte as coach this summer.