Maurizio Sarri was giving a look of contentment after his Chelsea side had picked up a 3-2 win over London rivals Arsenal on Saturday. They had a Marcos Alonso goal to thank after the game proved out to be a very thrilling one indeed.

But Maurizio Sarri’s reaction was starkly opposite to how it should have been. Not because of how Chelsea won, but because of how Chelsea had defended. And the way they defended was similar to how Arsenal did. The Gunners created more clear cut opportunities than Chelsea did and it would be fair to say that Unai Emery’s men probably deserved more than they got.

And that is something Sarri has to improve on, if the side really wants to challenge for the title this season. There were times when they looked all over the place. With Arsenal continuously succeeding in overrunning the Blues midfield. More control was established after the introduction of Mateo Kovacic, but Chelsea should not have looked this open at the back.

That too when sides like Man City, Liverpool and Tottenham or even Man United are expected to be better challengers for the top four than Chelsea. Both Spurs and United have consistently had one of the best defenses in Europe over the last three seasons and Chelsea were known for that aspect when Antonio Conte had won the title with the club in the 2016-17 campaign.

Perhaps, it wasn’t bound to be this way. Chelsea had missed out on signing Daniele Rugani and Mattia Caldara this past summer and that shows that Sarri was looking to sign another centre-back; someone who knows how to play out from the back and hence, fits the system. While Antonio Rudiger and David Luiz do fit the bill, having another centre-half of a better level would certainly have helped against Arsenal.

And it would be fair to say that defending like that against the fellow big teams won’t win a side the Premier League. The presence of Kalidou Koulibaly and a veteran in Raul Albiol helped Sarri have a stout backline at Napoli, but he doesn’t really have defenders of that quality at Chelsea yet. And he was after defenders like that last summer. Both Albiol and Koulibaly were linked with moves to Stamford Bridge.

While it is too early to judge Chelsea after the win over Arsenal, it did seem this way after three games of Antonio Conte’s reign at the club. They had sustained losses to Chelsea and Liverpool and it was after those losses that things had changed. Sarri may not have to make those big changes, but if Chelsea defend like the way they did against Arsenal, they could well finish outside the top four. And as previously said, it is too early to judge.