Cesc Fabregas makes Arsenal title claim ahead of Chelsea showdown

Former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has backed the club to build on their success last season to clinch many more Premier League titles over the coming years under Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal got their title defence off the ground in convincing fashion with an emphatic 3-0 defeat of Frank Lampard’s newly promoted Coventry in their opening match of the campaign.

The Gunners followed that up with a hard-fought 1-0 win away to Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, who had been hammered 4-0 at Brighton in their previous contest.

Manchester City and Chelsea are the only other teams with 100 per cent records at this embryonic stage of the season and Arsenal do battle with the latter in what promises to be a compelling contest at the Emirates this afternoon.

The reigning champions then get their Champions League campaign up and running away at Napoli on Wednesday night, before returning to Premier League action with three tough matches on the road at Sunderland, Ipswich and Brighton.

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of this weekend’s eagerly anticipated derby showdown, Fabregas picked out Arteta’s Arsenal as the ‘most stable’ team in the division.

‘For sure, they are the most stable team,’ the ex-Arsenal, Chelsea and Spain midfielder said during an interview on the starting grid at the Italian Grand Prix.

‘They have a project already where the others are starting to build.

‘I’m sure Arsenal can take a few Premier Leagues in a few years.’

On Arsenal’s opponents, Fabregas – now the head coach of Serie A outfit Como – added: ‘They’ve made a very good team so I’m sure they will do really well this season.’

Facing the media at his pre-match press conference, Arteta said he was looking forward to being reunited with Xabi Alonso – a childhood friend from their younger days in San Sebastian.

‘I’m really happy for him,’ the Arsenal boss said of his fellow countryman, who took over the reins at Chelsea back in May.

‘It’s incredible because obviously we have the history that we have together, the same with Andoni [Iraola] and to be facing each other in such a level and with the responsibility we have managing some of the top clubs in the country is a really beautiful thing to experience.’

He added: ‘Now it would be tougher to meet because of the schedule that we both have.

‘But of course that relationship goes on for many, many years and we share some great moments together.

‘That’s natural, but now it’s the competition and when you face each other you know what happens.’

Chelsea have got off to lightning starts in both of their opening matches of the season, with Joao Pedro scoring 31 seconds into their clash with Fulham before Romeo Lavia broke the deadlock in the fourth minute against Brighton.

Asked how he thought the Blues might play, Arteta replied: ‘That would depend on a lot of factors and game state is a massive one, especially because the two games that they played, they scored very, very early and that changes the momentum and the shift of the game. 

‘But they are capable and he’s capable of playing in various ways. That’s been a really successful match so far.’