Arsenal built its modern-identity upon patience, elegance and continuity. Chelsea, by contrast, mastered the chaotic and pragmatic, churning through managers like double-decker buses. On Sunday while the managers are different, their ideologies run quite close – steeped in Basque grit and elite Spanish schooling.

Mikel Arteta has turned Arsenal into a defensive unit, guarding the Emirates like a fortress. Yet while solid defence remains its calling card, its frontline artillery has looked light, yielding just four goals so far. Factoring in the summer departures of Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, and Leandro Trossard, the Gunners’ attacking bite suddenly feels vulnerable.

Xabi Alonso’s Blues, meanwhile, have entertained the league thoroughly. They score in bunches, play with an infectious energy, making Alonso’s Stamford Bridge experience more explosive, with seven goals in two games. New signing Morgan Rogers has fit in like a glove, much to Arsenal’s angst, and has instantly formed a brutal triumvirate alongside Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro.

But where’s the defence, Alonso? Chelsea are now 18 Premier League games without a clean sheet, a drought stretching back to a 2-0 win over Brentford under Liam Rosenior. If Alonso is to pull off a statement win on Sunday, his first priority must be reinforcing a backline that has leaked like an open lock on the Thames.

Decades after growing together in San Sebastian, and cutting through football at amateur club, Antiguoko, Arteta and Alonso find themselves at the opposite end once more. They have already lived that chapter as players on either side of Merseyside but now at the capital, the stakes have grown multi-fold with changing crests.