Jamie Carragher’s warning after Arsenal's 2-1 win over Chelsea was not really about the result. It was about William Saliba, who has not played a minute of football so far this season, and about how little Chelsea managed to create anyway. Arsenal conceded for the first time this season, then still came through a game that never felt like a side with a missing defender had been opened up.

Carragher's warning after the Chelsea win

Carragher said the worrying part for everybody else is that Saliba has not been involved at all. He called him “genuinely world-class” and said it did not look like anyone can score against Arsenal, even without their best defender.

The late save from David Raya from Estevao was the moment Chelsea came closest to changing the tone. Carragher's read was that it still did not amount to a spell where Arsenal were properly stretched, and that is the part rival managers will notice more than the scoreline itself.

Arsenal's recent defensive numbers back up the feel of the game. They had kept two consecutive Premier League clean sheets before conceding against Chelsea, and Saliba still has only 6 appearances in his season sample, none of them in the league start Carragher was talking about.

Chelsea's midfield was the other problem

Ian Wright's view after the match was that Chelsea's front three can trouble teams, but the bigger issue sits in midfield. He said the problem would come down to the centre of the pitch, where Chelsea ended with Malo Gusto as a makeshift central midfielder.

That shortage was sharpened by the personnel they had already lost. Chelsea were without Enzo Fernandez after deadline day and had seen Andrey Santos leave earlier in the summer, while Arsenal could turn to World Cup winners Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi from the bench.

Wright also pointed to the planning around Chelsea's midfield exits, saying they could have moved earlier for Lamine Camara from Monaco. The concern is not just the defeat to Arsenal, but how often Chelsea may be forced into patchwork solutions if injuries hit that area again.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →