Our visitors from north London begin the weekend atop the Premier League, and a major reason for their fast start has been the familiarity of their line-ups. Eight Arsenal players have started every league game, and another, captain Martin Odegaard, has missed just one.

In our ranks, injury, illness and a managerial change mean not one Blue has started every league game for us. Bringing stability to the team and making it more recognisable and predictable in terms of its personnel and formations is a priority of Graham Potter's. However, he recognises the need to keep his options open.

‘I always have an idea of how we want to play football, it just depends on where the players are at, what we have, when injuries come back,’ said the manager.

‘I wouldn’t say I’m experimenting. You have to remember when you’re trying to do something new there is a chance it goes wrong. You always have to be prepared for that. It sounds a bit strange because you should come across as this all-knowing person with all the answers, but the reality of making progress and doing something different and new is you have to prepare to look an idiot.

‘If it fails, you’re open to criticism. On the flipside, if you don’t do anything, just the same stuff, then nothing changes. You have to have the courage to do that and accept the consequences when it doesn’t go your way, but stability is far better than constant change.’

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The contrast between Potter’s Chelsea story and that of Mikel Arteta, his opposite number on Sunday, is also marked. The Gunners boss is approaching his third year in charge, whereas Potter is entering month three at the helm.

He says he has thrived working with the new Chelsea owners and, on reflection, acknowledges the Arsenal model is something to aspire to.

‘They’ve identified Mikel, they’ve supported him through difficult times, there’s been times they’ve been under pressure from the outside. Arsenal deserve to be where they are. They have had three years of working with Mikel and building and building.

‘We are at the start of an exciting project with lots of things that have happened behind the scenes, lots of change, lots of instability. There’s a long way to go.

‘You have one defeat and it’s the end of the world, but we understand that. If you look across at Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, all the successful teams, they’ve had periods where it hasn’t gone in a straight line. You have to deal with the disappointments and move forward.

‘I’ve had nothing but support from the owners,’ continued Potter.

‘They’ve been fantastic: very level-headed, very sensible, very supportive, very caring about the team, very caring about the club and about me.

‘I’m the head coach. The football has to be led that way, and then it’s about support. It’s about conversation and collaboration. That’s how this club is and wants to go forward.’