Rio Ferdinand has goaded Arsenal supporters for celebrating their win over Chelsea on Sunday and says the Gunners only beat their ‘B team’.
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Arsenal beat the Blues 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in a huge win for Mikel Arteta’s side, who are top of the Premier League after their opening 13 matches.
Chelsea set up a 4-2-3-1 formation for the game with Edouard Mendy in goal and a back four of Azpilicueta, Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva and Marc Cucurella.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jorginho were the holding midfielders while the three in front were Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz and Mason Mount.
Former Arsenal skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang started up front for Graham Potter’s side.
Aubameyang was eventually replaced after 64 minutes, as was Havertz, with Armando Broja and Conor Gallagher coming on for the Blues.
Mateo Kovacic and Christian Pulisic were also brought on in the game after 78 minutes with Loftus-Cheek and Mount taken off respectively.
Former Manchester United Ferdinand was not convinced by the strength of the team Potter put out on Sunday afternoon.
Ferdinand told his YouTube podcast: ‘You lot were very impressive, I can’t take that away from [Arsenal].
‘You lot are serious. A serious team now. But look at the opposition you were playing, it wasn’t even their first team!
‘Still impressed, but it was not their first team. Kepa [Arrizabalaga] is the No.1 goalkeeper now.
‘[Reece] James, [Ben] Chilwell, [Kalidou] Koulibaly, [Wesley] Fofana, [N’Golo] Kante, that’s six players who all [usually] start. ‘It was their second team, their B team. Six starters didn’t start!’
Ferdinand did, however, single out three Arsenal players for huge praise after the win over Chelsea.
‘[William] Saliba was immense yesterday, he played really well,’ he added. ‘He stood out. [Thomas] Partey, he made it look easy in midfield.
‘He dominated that midfield. [Gabriel] Jesus, he did everything but put the ball in the back of the net.’
