'Learning point' as Arsenal miss chance to extend lead

Facing Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Chelsea inside a week - a run any side would find an extreme test - and earning two wins and a battling draw cannot be considered anything other than a positive return but Arsenal may be left feeling they could have done even better.

After superb performances in beating rivals Spurs before dispatching Bayern at the Emirates, Sunday's match with Chelsea was always going to be difficult with recovery time limited.

And preparations were further hit with key centre-back William Saliba ruled out with a knock picked up in training - the France international set for more tests.

Given that context, a 1-1 draw secured through Mikel Merino's header to leave the Gunners five points clear at the top of the table is far from a poor result. But having seen his side play against 10 men for the majority of the match following Moises Caicedo's red card, manager Mikel Arteta also admitted an opportunity to extend the lead further had been missed.

"It's been a big week, starting with the derby," he said. " Then to play Bayern Munich three days later [and] we lost players in those games.

"Today, for example, we had to play a partnership [in defence] that we never played before in a really difficult match.

"The captain is still not here (Martin Odegaard), the nine is still not here (Viktor Gyokeres), Kai (Havertz) is still not here, We lost Leo (Trossard) in midweek as well, But the team had to react to that."

Odegaard and Gyokeres did come off the bench for the Gunners in the second half at Chelsea.

"I think overall it's been a really positive week because the difficulty was immense," added Arteta.

"But I have this flavour that today we should have and we could have won the game and we haven't. That's a learning point from it."

Arsenal to continue without Gabriel and Saliba

The match against Chelsea was only the second time since August 2021 that neither Gabriel Magalhaes or Saliba had been in the Arsenal line-up for a Premier League game.

The pair are not only key for the Gunners at the back but also play a big part in their attacking set-pieces.

With neither on the pitch, Arsenal's usually dangerous long throws, free-kicks and corners lacked their usual potency.

The goal from Trevoh Chalobah which put Chelsea in the lead also came from a corner, which will be disappointing to Arsenal manager Arteta and set-piece coach Nicolas Jover.

"It's been a headache," Arteta said. "Because obviously we have to have a lot of options and changes in the last few months for different reasons.

"That one (Saliba injury) is very unexpected, and it happened yesterday."

Arteta named Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie as his centre-back pairing for the first time in the Premier League.

"The beauty of it is that you have players so willing to play, so willing to connect with each other. We will build a relationship even better," Arteta added.

"So today was a great learning match for all of us and as well gives you the assurance that whoever is there is going to perform."

The Arsenal manager will need those who come in to keep performing as he confirmed that it would be "weeks" before Gabriel's return to the first team.