Arsenal vs Chelsea LIVE: Premier League result and reaction as Gunners’ run riot after White and Havertz goals

Between Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke wrestling over a penalty and the Senegalese’s semi-final misses at Wembley, there was actually some respite for Chelsea last week.

The prospect of their discards winning the Champions League had started to loom large; until one of them, Mateo Kovacic, missed his spot kick in Manchester City’s shootout defeat to Real Madrid on the same night, with Jorginho and Kai Havertz starting, Arsenal made a tame exit to Bayern Munich.

A day earlier, Chelsea’s Champions League-winning captain Cesar Azpilicueta had been taken off at half-time in Atletico Madrid’s loss to Borussia Dortmund; if Kepa Arrizabalaga goes on to win the competition for a second time, it will at least be as a substitute again. There is nothing too chastening for Chelsea there.

“This is normal, he is young,” the Chelsea manager continued on his assessment over Nicolas Jackson’s season so far. “He needs to deal with the pressure of playing for Chelsea with all the new things that have happened.

“He has increased his social media followers – before it was not too much and now in the Premier League it has increased and it’s how you deal with this situation.

“It is so important for him to adapt and to assimilate to all the new stimulation from the outside. We can not judge an end product – he’s potentially an amazing striker and step by step he is getting better and better.

“The first season is always difficult for all the players, even more so when you are a striker and you need to perform and score goals – and everyone expects you to score a goal with every single touch.

“I’ve said before, if we want the players to match the icon players here like (Didier) Drogba, if we compare, always he is going to lose. If we split the history of the club with the performance of the team and Jackson, I think he is doing fantastic.

“He is going to have all support because even if doesn’t score, he is fighting for the club, fighting for his teammates and the team, producing chances of himself alone.

“He is going to be better next season for sure, no doubt about that, and he needs to keep going.”

Mauricio Pochettino has reiterated his trust in Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson. The Senegal international arrived from Villarreal in the summer and has featured regularly in the Premier League this campaign.

He has scored 10 top-flight goals and and has integrated himself into Pochettino’s squad.

“Football is a dynamic system and you need to adapt to the circumstances. The circumstances are a young striker arrived from Spain and then different offensive players, like Christopher Nkunku or Armando Broja, were not available in a way that would allow him to rest.

“That’s why it’s unfair not to give him the praise or credit for the effort that he has been making. He was also involved in the Africa Cup of Nations and I think he has been doing a fantastic job for the team.

“We are going to give him all the support for him to be in the future calmer in front of goal and to increase the percentage of scoring goals.”

Cole Palmer is likely to miss tonight’s match against Arsenal but Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino says the club will assess whether he could potentially make a last minute recovery from illness.

“We need to assess [Tuesday],” said Pochettino of Palmer’s chances. “Today, no, I don’t believe he can be involved. Even if he will be good tomorrow, he may not be in a condition to play.

“With and without him, we believe that we can win. The most important thing is the collective. Of course he’s an important part of the team. He’s doing fantastic for us. But we have plenty of players that can perform and do the job.”

The Premier League is heading for a classic title race, with Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal set for a three-way battle as the season enters the run-in.

A “painful” week in the Champions League and Europa League saw the Premier League’s top three teams all crash out of European competition at the quarter-final stage, as attention returns to the title race once again.

It comes as both Liverpool and Arsenal slipped up at home last weekend to leave champions City leading the way with six games to go. Pep Guardiola’s side are aiming to win a fourth league title in a row – a feat that has never been achieved in the history of English football, and the title is now in their hands.

Chelsea have won five of their last eight Premier League London derby matches, with two draws and one defeat in that run. They had previously won just one of their last 10 (three draws, six defeats).

Mauricio Pochettino has never won a Premier League away game against Arsenal, drawing four and losing three of his seven league visits to the Emirates Stadium with Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Premier League issued a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying: “The Premier League was extremely disappointed to read the comments made by Nottingham Forest on social media yesterday, following its match against Everton.

“We note The FA has confirmed it will be investigating the club’s statement. It is never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials, and the nature of these comments mean the Premier League will also be investigating the matter in relation to the League’s Rules.”

The Premier League was “extremely disappointed” by comments Nottingham Forest made on social media demanding the audio of three VAR decisions they believe went against them in the defeat to Everton be released to the public,

The club also called for a change in how referees are selected after three penalty incidents, all involving Everton’s Ashley Young, were checked and cleared by the video assistant referee during the fixture at Goodison Park.

The Gunners have lost just one of their last eight Premier League games against Chelsea (won five, lost two).

Their current four-game unbeaten run is their longest against the Blues in the league since a 19-game streak between 1995 and 2005.