Chelsea vs Arsenal - as it happened: Arsene Wenger's men hold 10-man Blues to goalless draw

4 mins: A repeat of that victory is looking unlikely in the early stages because Chelsea have started at a blistering pace. After Pedro has tested Cech with a swerving shot from distance, the home side then forced two quick corners. The first of those saw Fabregas blasting a cross towards the six-yard-box that a defender somehow managed to edge the wrong - or right for him - side of the post.

8 mins: There's a pause in play so Victor Moses and Alexandre Lacazette can receive treatment after the two accidentally clashed knees. Eventually, both appear fit to continue although the Chelsea man hobbles back into position. It may be worth keeping an eye on the right-back in the next few minutes.

11 mins: Morata is making his name at Chelsea with his head, having used his noggin to register all his goals and assists this season. The Italian is almost at it again as he glances Cesar Azpilicueta's cross from the right just wide of the far post, only to see that the linesman's flag had already been raised for offside.

14 mins: There's a huge cheer from the home fans as Sead Kolasinac falls over in his pursuit of Victor Moses. The Bosnian recovers, but like a drunk stumbling out of a pub on a Friday night, but immediately crashes into his opponent, sending them both to the floor. Play continues with a cross into the Arsenal box, but Laurent Koscielny heads the danger clear.

16 mins: Loverly football from Arsenal! Hector Bellerin and Alex Iwobi play a smart one-two to send the Spaniard into spare on the right flank, where his first time cross is sent over David Luiz at the near post. Behind the Brazilian, Danny Welbeck arrives to meet the aerial delivery, but his impressive effort soars just over the crossbar of Thibaut Courtois' goal.

17 mins: Arsenal on the move once more, and again it is supplied from Bellerin on the right. This time the cross is low, and this time it's in the direction of Lacazette, but the result is one of similar frustration. The Frenchman's whipped shot across goal is comfortably saved by Courtois.

20 mins: This is a fine spell for Arsenal as they test Courtois again. On this occasion, the Chelsea goalkeeper is a lot less convincing, pushing Sead Kolasinac's long range shot back into the danger area in a similar vein to Wayne Hennessey yesterday. Courtois gets a lot luckier than the Crystal Palace custodian, however, with his questionable clearance travelling back between Lacazette and Aaron Ramsey before being cleared.

21 mins: The Arsenal offside trap comes up trumps again! The Gunners back-line completely switches off as Pedro latches on to Cesc Fabregas' through ball to hone in on goal unchallenged. Petr Cech isn't quite so inattentive though, racing off his line to narrow the angle before blocking the Spaniard's shot. A huge let off for the visitors after such a promising five minutes.

I was about to say that the Aston Villa players must have been given the day off training, but I'm not sure that work commitment would have made much difference to one of their defenders.

28 mins: For the first time this afternoon, the pace of the game settles down to something resembling normal. That's aided by a minor stoppage so Pedro can receive treatment for a knock - presumably to his ego after he fluffed that one-on-one opportunity.