But for all the pre-match buzz, it was the visitors who had the lion's share of the play in the opening stages, hitting the woodwork twice. For a while, it looked like the Blues were in trouble.

But some careful game management, a lot of hard graft and a clinical moment from Alyssa Thompson meant that we came away with three precious points. Here's a look at how we did it...

Changing the momentum

After scoring early in our last two matches, the wins over Birmingham City and Austria Vienna, Chelsea struggled to get hold of the ball against Arsenal. Head coach Sonia Bompastor has often spoken about the advantages of scoring early, explaining that it can serve to kill the opposition's hope early on in a game.

Yet Arsenal had 65 per cent possession in the first 15 minutes of Sunday's game, leading many to wonder why we were not able to show the same attacking prowess that we had done in the previous two matches. Of course, it's not easy to dominate a high-level opponent, and that fast start was never guaranteed.

If the plan was to let Arsenal have the ball early on, then it was difficult to understand why that would be, especially when we were at home. Bompastor confirmed that Arsenal's early dominance was not part of her tactics.

'We didn't start the way we wanted to,' confirmed the head coach afterwards. 'Our game plan was different from what we did in the first 20 minutes. When we got that break, it was the opportunity for me to adjust and to remind the players what we wanted to do on the pitch.

'We were able to recover that ball, and after that, we capitalised on it. But as much as you tell the players before the game that's what you want, sometimes it doesn't go to plan, and you need to find a way for them to adjust.'

Reversing such clear momentum is not an easy task, but that's what Bompastor helped her players to do, and in the first 15 minutes of the second half, we enjoyed 72 per cent of the ball.

Big game Bronze

Lucy Bronze has proven that she thrives in high-pressure moments, and has even discussed how she can raise her level when it matters in previous interviews.

A home game against rivals Arsenal was one of those occasions for the experienced defender, and a look at her numbers shows how she led by example while wearing the captain's armband.

Bronze won five of her six attempted tackles, the most of any Chelsea player on the day. She also made two blocks, won three aerial duels and recovered the ball on five occasions.

Not only content to carry out her defensive duties against a quality opponent, she made 16 passes in the final third of the pitch, created one chance and took a shot at goal. It was a trademark battling display from the 34-year-old, and one that certainly helped us secure the win on Sunday.

Potter-Walsh pivot keeps getting better

Chelsea Academy graduate Lexi Potter has been playing more minutes this season, and developing an increasingly effective partnership with Keira Walsh. But few would've expected the youngster to be named in the starting line-up against Arsenal, with games of this magnitude often reserved for players with more experience.

Bompastor showed how highly she values the youngster by placing her in the XI to start against the Gunners, and explained afterwards why she did so.

'For her age, being able to be consistent in the way she's been performing is great,' said the head coach. 'Probably people were also looking forward to this game to see if, on this big occasion, she was able to repeat and sustain the performance, and she proved that today.'

It's not only her own performances that have secured a place in the side for Potter. Her reliability in the deeper midfield slot is allowing Walsh to express her qualities more in attack, as Bompastor also explained.

'Keira is playing at that level because she has more freedom to go forward, because she has Lexi next to her. When Keira is at that level, she's the boss on the pitch.'

The graphic above shows how many of Walsh's touches are outside of the centre circle. And when compared to Potter's touch map below, it's clear that the 20-year-old is covering that central area in place of Walsh, allowing her counterpart to make a difference in attack.

It's something that Walsh herself spoke about after the Arsenal victory. 'Last year I sometimes let games pass by without having much impact, and that's something I've focused on this season,' said Walsh after the match. 'Having Lexi behind allows me to do that.'

Malard leads the line

It was a tough job to stay high up the pitch against Arsenal, but someone had to do it. The average position graphic below demonstrates how Chelsea were much less positionally aggressive against the Gunners than we have been in other matches this season.

Some of that can be put down to playing an opponent who can be extremely dangerous on the counter-attack, but as discussed earlier, much of it was down to those early minutes of domination from the visitors.

Up top was Melvine Malard, holding the line, battling for possession and being ready for any out ball that might've come her way. Playing the central striker role isn't always glamorous, but our summer signing has shown she is willing to do the hard work for the team.

Taking five shots, two of which were on target, she also completed all eight of her passes in the final third, while winning the ball back twice and completing both of her attempted tackles. This was a clear indication of Malard's value to the team even on a day when she wasn't on the scoresheet.