Having somehow prolonged their unbeaten start to the 2023-24 Premier League season, Arsenal seek a return to winning ways in Champions League Group B against Europa League holders Sevilla on Tuesday night.
Mikel Arteta's men came up short in a 2-1 loss away to Lens on matchday two, while Los Palanganas and PSV Eindhoven cancelled each other out in a pulsating 2-2 stalemate.
Match preview
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The man who steadied a sinking Sevilla ship and led Los Palanganas to Europa League crown number seven last month is now on the hunt for a new role, as another unsightly set of domestic results spelled the end of Jose Luis Mendilibar's tenure at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Former Uruguay manager Diego Alonso experienced the true meaning of a baptism of fire in his first game in charge at the weekend, as Sevilla welcomed leaders Real Madrid to their headquarters but emerged with their heads held high from a merited 1-1 draw.
David Alaba's unfortunate own goal put Sevilla a goal to the good, but Dani Carvajal spared his teammate's blushes just four minutes later, and while the script was seemingly written for Sergio Ramos to head home the winner against his former club, a combination of Kepa Arrizabalaga and the woodwork denied the Blancos icon.
A hard-earned point versus Carlo Ancelotti's men represents Sevilla's third stalemate on the bounce, the first of which saw Los Palanganas throw away a pair of one-goal leads to draw with PSV Eindhoven in their last Champions League affair, where they fell victim to an injury-time Jordan Teze leveller.
Only Las Palmas and Almeria have fallen victim to defeat against Sevilla this term, although the hosts can take some solace from the fact that both of those successes came in front of their own fans, where they will now seek just a third win from 17 in Europe's elite competition.
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While much of the pre-match talk at Stamford Bridge centred around Mauricio Pochettino and Mikel Arteta's touching reunion, there was another headline waiting to be written, as Mykhaylo Mudryk - whom Arsenal pursued relentlessly in January - almost condemned his old admirers to defeat in bizarre fashion.
Deservedly behind to Cole Palmer's first-half penalty, Arsenal then witnessed Mudryk's cross-cum-shot fly over David Raya's futile reach and into the side of the net, but as has been the case so often in 2023, Arteta's side flipped a switch as the clock wound down and somehow left with a share of the points.
Robert Sanchez spared Raya the full embarrassment with a poor pass straight to Declan Rice - who duly obliged from long range - before Leandro Trossard, the man Arsenal signed as a Mudryk alternative, came good off the bench once again with an 85th-minute leveller.
Experiencing a full range of emotions in the past two weeks alone, Gooners also witnessed their troops sink Manchester City and suffer a deserved Champions League beating away to Lens before the international break - the latter result bumped the Gunners down to second in Group A after their 4-0 destruction of PSV.
Few in red and white could argue that a point at Stamford Bridge was generous, but that London derby is now history, and Arsenal are now on a quest to win a Champions League game on the road for the first time since December 2016, when Basel were consigned to a 4-1 humbling by Arsene Wenger's team.
Wenger was also in the dugout for Arsenal's first and only two meetings with Sevilla to date in 2007, where the Gunners strolled to a 3-0 win at their Emirates home, but the Spanish powerhouses avenged that loss with a 3-1 triumph at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan before both sides advanced to the knockout rounds.
Team News
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Sevilla head coach Alonso has inherited a near fully-fit squad from Mendilibar, and the hosts' only absentees on Tuesday should be goalkeeper Alfonso Pastor (knee) and striker Mariano Diaz (thigh), although neither man would have forced their way into the first XI.
Alonso admitted that focal point Youssef En-Nesyri was an enforced withdrawal late on in their draw with Real Madrid, although the Moroccan is not believed to be suffering from anything more than a bout of fatigue and ought to take his rightful place in the lineup here.
Rafa Mir is on hand should En-Nesyri be in need of a break, while Boubakary Soumare could hold his spot at the base of the midfield after earning praise from Alonso for his showing against Real Madrid.
Similarly, a backup goalkeeper was one of only two players missing for Arsenal in their battle with Chelsea, as Aaron Ramsdale attended to the birth of his child while Raya ironically made a couple of schoolboy errors in between the sticks.
Ramsdale should be back in the fold on Tuesday, leaving ACL victim Jurrien Timber as the Gunners' sole absentee, and Arteta will no doubt face calls to bring the Englishman back into the starting lineup, although such pleas are likely to fall on deaf ears.
However, both Thomas Partey and Kai Havertz are in contention to displace Jorginho in the middle of the park, while Gabriel Jesus struggled to make an impact in West London but should hold off the threat of Eddie Nketiah regardless.
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Nyland; Navas, Gudelj, Ramos, Acuna; Sow, Soumare, Rakitic; Lukebakio, En-Nesyri, Ocampos
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Partey; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli
We say: Sevilla 0-1 Arsenal
Whether an opening draw with Real Madrid is indicative of a prolonged new manager bounce remains to be seen, but an inconsistent Sevilla side remain without a tried-and-tested formula for success and are lacking the enviable talent in reserve that their visitors boast.
Another tight affair should certainly be in store, but as was the case at Stamford Bridge, substitutes could make the world of difference in a nervy success for Arsenal, although a performance akin to their first half against Chelsea will put paid to those hopes.
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Top tip
Ben Knapton
