Arteta and Alonso meet as friends become Premier League rivals

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says it will be “a really beautiful thing to experience” when he faces long-time friend Xabi Alonso in the Premier League for the first time as Arsenal host Chelsea this evening.

Both clubs have won their opening two matches of the season, giving them six points apiece ahead of the meeting between the defending champions and Chelsea.

Arteta and Alonso, both 44, grew up in Spain’s Basque Country and have stayed close through their careers as players and managers. Their first meeting in the dugout came in a friendly in 2024, when Alonso was in charge of Bayer Leverkusen.

The fixture at Arsenal will be their first managerial contest in England’s top flight.

“I am really happy for him. It’s incredible because obviously we have the history we have together,” Arteta told reporters on Friday.

“To be facing each other at such a level and with the responsibility we have managing some of the top clubs in the country is a really beautiful thing to experience.”

Chelsea have made an eye-catching start in attack, with Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer all showing good early form in front of goal.

Arteta believes the way the match develops could be decisive, particularly after Chelsea scored very early in both of their opening games.

“That will depend on a lot of factors, and game state is a massive one, especially because the two games that they played, they scored very, very early and that changes the momentum and the shift of the game,” he said.

“But they are capable, and he’s capable of playing in various ways. He’s been a really successful manager so far.”

Arsenal’s attacking options

Arsenal were linked with several major attacking signings during the transfer window, including Morgan Rogers, Julian Alvarez and Vinicius Junior. Their only forward arrival, however, was Greece winger Christos Tzolis, who joined from Club Brugge.

Arteta rejected suggestions that Arsenal had failed to strengthen sufficiently.

“I don’t know, these are just opinions,” the Spaniard said.

“The window is closed, and I prefer to look at all the incredible things that we have in this squad and not to spend any more time on the things that are not part of us right now. That’s it, and that’s my main responsibility.”

Arsenal will rely on players including Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres and Bukayo Saka as they seek to maintain their perfect start.

Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli have left the club, but Arteta said those departures had not made his attack weaker than it was last season.

He pointed to the number of minutes those players featured, as well as the injuries Arsenal suffered during the opening six months of the previous campaign.

“We have to understand the amount of minutes that those players played and the ones that were injured last year, especially in the first six months, and the data shows something completely different,” Arteta said.

“But it is what it is. It is what we have and as I said before, we already have some very, very good players.”