Over our 120 years, the Blues have met Arsenal, our rivals from across the capital, on 210 occasions across six different competitions. The 211th comes later today as we make the short trip north to the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League.

But before the latest chapter in the storied rivalry is written, we recite some of our favourite passages from the 118-year-long history of Chelsea vs Arsenal.

Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal | Division One | 9 November 1907

The first-ever meeting between Chelsea and Woolwich Arsenal – as our opponents were then known – arrived two years after the former club was formed.

What was then a record league crowd in the capital witnessed Chelsea draw first blood in this rivalry, thanks to two strikes by the legendary striker George Hilsdon. Goals in the 13th and 77th minutes meant Charlie Satterthwaite’s reply for the visitors was a mere consolation.

This new derby made quite an impression on the locals too, with the London-based Morning Leader newspaper glimpsing the future by declaring: ‘This great game will be fought over again a thousand times in the family circle, in club, workshop, office and factory.’

Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal | Division One | 12 October 1935

The crowd from that first meeting between Chelsea and Arsenal was comfortably surpassed at this draw in 1935, which remains the largest officially recorded attendance for any match at Stamford Bridge.

A raucous 82,905 people crammed into the Bridge to see the two sides, separated by just two points in the top-flight table at the time, go head-to-head.

Managed by Leslie Knighton and captained by one-club man Tommy Law, the Chelsea side featured Dicky Spence, who would go on to score a record 19 goals in this fixture across 14 years, in blue.

Unfortunately the huge number of Chelsea supporters in attendance didn’t get to celebrate a victory, as Joe Bambrick’s second-half goal for the home side was cancelled out by a Jack Crayston equaliser for Arsenal.

Arsenal 1-1 Chelsea | Division One | 25 August 1984

It may seem strange to include a second draw on our list, but this visit to Highbury for our opening game of the 1984/85 campaign was a pivotal moment in the club’s history.

A painful five-year absence from the top division – during which the club’s very existence came under threat – had come to an end, and our return began with a tough trip to an Arsenal side well-established in the upper reaches of the table.

So big was the excitement among the Blues faithful that there were large numbers of Chelsea supporters visible in all four corners of Arsenal’s stadium.

And a Kerry Dixon equaliser sparked wild celebrations and earned a draw that proved we were back where we belonged and able to compete with the top teams in the country again. We have played outside the top flight for just one season since.

Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea | UEFA Champions League | 6 April 2004

Chelsea’s first-ever appearance in the last four of European football’s most prestigious competition arrived in 2004, courtesy of a dramatic win over Arsenal.

A 1-1 draw in the first leg at Stamford Bridge had given the Gunners the advantage, and a Jose Antonio Reyes goal at Highbury extended further. That left us with 45 minutes to score twice without reply in order to continue our European journey.

We were given hope when Frank Lampard made it 2-2 on aggregate just six minutes into the second half; he slotted home a rebound after Jens Lehmann couldn’t hold Claude Makelele’s powerful drive.

That set up a tense finale, which was settled from an unlikely source, as full-back Wayne Bridge raced onto Eidur Gudjohnsen’s pass in the 87th minute to fire Chelsea into the Champions League semi-finals for the first time.

Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal | Premier League | 21 August 2005

It may not have been pretty, but this win represented a shift in the balance of power in London and English football.

Despite claiming our first top-flight title for 50 years a few months earlier, our hoodoo against the Gunners persisted until Didier Drogba’s second-half strike ended a run of 20 league games without a win for the Blues in this fixture.

Drogba had netted two excellent goals in a 2-1 Community Shield win over the same opponents two weeks earlier, but this time, on the opening day of the campaign, he bundled the ball past the keeper with his knee while attempting to control Lampard's pass.

Not that any of the home fans at the Bridge cared how it went in, as our first winning league goal against Arsenal after 20 attempts. In quite a turnaround, we would go on to win 11 of the next 20 Premier League meetings.

Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea | FA Cup | 18 April 2009

Drogba was something of a nemesis for Arsenal during his time with Chelsea, and never looked more at home than he did on the big stage at Wembley Stadium. Both of those traits were on show in this FA Cup semi-final.

We had initially fallen behind to Theo Walcott’s goal following a strong start by the Gunners, before Florent Malouda levelled things up shortly after the half-hour mark with an excellent strike, cutting onto his left foot and beating the keeper at his near post.

As was so often the case, though, it was Drogba who proved decisive, pouncing to settle the game with six minutes remaining. He put Arsenal to the sword when he brushed aside Mikael Silvestre to latch on to Lampard’s long ball, round Lukasz Fabianski and slot the winner into an empty net.

We would return to the national stadium to lift the famous old trophy by beating Everton in the final.

Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal | Premier League | 22 March 2014

Chelsea’s biggest-ever win over Arsenal came at just about the most painful time possible for the Gunners, as long-serving manager Arsene Wenger marked his 1,000th game in charge. Perhaps they should have seen it coming, having lost on five of their six previous visits to Stamford Bridge.

By the time Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was sent off in a case of mistaken identity after Kieran Gibbs had handled on the line, Chelsea were already two up through Samuel Eto’o and Andre Schurrle. Eden Hazard’s penalty then made it 3-0 inside 20 minutes.

The game was already all but over, but we rubbed salt into the wound as Oscar found the net twice before Mohamed Salah completed the record 6-0 scoreline. It left Wenger with nothing to smile about on his landmark day.

Chelsea 3-1 Arsenal | Premier League | 4 February 2017

For many, Eden Hazard was the dominant figure of this era in Chelsea’s history, and this game featured what was perhaps the defining goal of the brilliant Belgian’s time at Stamford Bridge.

Marcos Alonso gave us the lead before the break, and shortly after it, Hazard demonstrated all the balance, close control, skills and composure that made him such a special player.

Picking up possession in his own half, Eden left a trail of Arsenal players sprawled in his wake as he charged into the area and lifted a deft finish over his former Blues team-mate Petr Cech.

Cesc Fabregas and Olivier Giroud would score against their former and future clubs late on, but it was Hazard’s goal that effectively made the points safe for Chelsea – and they turned out to be an important three points in our successful pursuit of a sixth league championship.

Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal | Europa League | 29 May 2019

In 2019 victory over Arsenal ended with Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta lifting a trophy – namely the Europa League after our second appearance in the final in Baku.

This time, Giroud netted for Chelsea against Arsenal, with a superb header shortly after half-time, to seal his status as the competition’s top scorer. That was the first of four Blues goals scored past Cech – making his last appearance before retirement – in the space of 23 minutes which left our opponents well beaten.

Hazard again proved too good for the Gunners, setting up Pedro for our second, converting a penalty for the third ,and sweeping in the fourth after combining brilliantly with Giroud, leaving Alex Iwobi’s strike in reply meaningless.

It was quite a way for Hazard to sign off in his final game for Chelsea.