Arsenal-Chelsea Premier League All-Time Combined XI

The 211th meeting between Arsenal and Chelsea will be played at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

While this perhaps isn't the matchup that immediately comes to mind when you think about London derbies, the Gunners and the Blues still have plenty of history domestically.

They've also had a couple of major performances against each other on the European stage, with the pair notably meeting in the 2019 UEFA Europa League final. On that night in Baku, Azerbaijan, Chelsea ran away with a 4-1 victory.

The clubs' recent trajectories have been interesting, too, with Arsenal becoming Premier League challengers after years of mediocrity and Chelsea going through a very expensive rebuild.

They also have some shared alumni. Stars such as Cesc Fabregas, Olivier Giroud, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Jorginho, Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling, Lassana Diarra, Emmanuel Petit, Willian, David Luiz, William Gallas and Nicolas Anelka have represented both the red and blue corners in their careers.

Of their Premier League-era legends, though, who would get into a joint starting XI? There were some tough decisions and big names left on the bench for this 4-2-3-1 lineup.

Think you can do better? Leave your selection in the comments.

Perhaps the best goalkeeper in Premier League history lined up for both Arsenal and Chelsea.

Petr Čech spent 11 years at Stamford Bridge before seeing his No. 1 spot handed to Thibaut Courtois. In the hunt for game time, he swapped west London for north London in 2015, spending four years with the Gunners before hanging up his gloves in 2019.

The former Czech Republic international's honors from his time with the Blues include four Premier League titles, four FA Cup winners' medals, three League Cup trophies, and titles in both the Champions League and Europa League.

He added an FA Cup to his trophy cabinet while at Arsenal, and he started for the Gunners in their unsuccessful Europa League final against his former club.

It's a hell of a resume. Although some might call for David Seaman to grab the gloves in this XI, it's hard to argue that Čech's success with both teams makes him the more deserving No. 1.

Ashley Cole is another player who could get into an all-time Premier League XI, and he lines up at left-back in this combined team.

The former England international came up through Arsenal's youth ranks and represented the senior side 228 times before making a controversial move to Chelsea in 2006—which saw Gallas move in the opposite direction.

Cole won two Premier League titles with the Gunners, and he was part of the
"Invincibles" squad of 2003-04, making 32 appearances as Arsenal went the whole season unbeaten. He also lifted the FA Cup in a red shirt three times.

But his success didn't stop there. With Chelsea, he won another Premier League title, added four more FA Cup winners' medals, clinched the League Cup, and found success in Europe with victories in the final of the Champions League and Europa League.

Cole was valued for his pace down the left side, his threat in the attacking third and his tenacious defensive work. At his peak, he was potentially the best in his position on the planet.

Captain. Leader. Legend.

That's what is written on a banner that still hangs in the Stamford Bridge stands, right alongside a picture of John Terry.

In addition to wearing the armband for the club side with one lion on the shirt, he also donned it for the international team that features three. He represented England 78 times on the world stage, although it was with Chelsea where he achieved the most of his career success.

Terry made 717 appearances for the Blues, the third most in the club's history. Along the way, he picked up 17 trophies, including five Premier Leagues and the Champions League (although he didn't feature in that 2012 final).

He also had a habit of scoring clutch goals, and he is the top-scoring defender in England's top flight.

A no-nonsense centre-back who was Chelsea through and through, there was no way he would miss out on a spot in this combined team.

And he's probably still wearing a full kit.

Some top central defenders have represented Arsenal and Chelsea through the years. But only one has a statue outside their club's stadium.

Tony Adams was a true one-club legend, with his 669 appearances the second-most in the Gunners' history.

In 19 seasons with the team, in a senior career that began in 1983, he won the English top-flight title four times, the FA Cup on three occasions, and he picked up three League Cups for good measure.

Adams was a fearless, rugged centre-back who bossed a back line that featured some big personalities.

While he and Terry wouldn't be the quickest central-defensive pairing, their sheer presence alone would have forwards quaking in their boots.

You could put César Azpilicueta anywhere in this backline and he'd do a fine job.

The Spaniard arrived at Stamford Bridge from Marseille in the summer of 2012 for a modest fee of around $8.4 million (£6.5 million), and he proved to be one of Chelsea's biggest bargains.

His 508 appearances for the Blues puts him sixth in the club's all-time list, and top in terms of players from outside the United Kingdom.

Dependable, solid and always a threat for opposition defenders, Azpilicueta was class personified for the west Londoners.

At 35 years old, he's still going strong, with Atlético Madrid now making the most of his wealth of experience.

A player so good a position was named after him.

In the mid-2000s, Premier League clubs were desperate to find a player to fit the "Makelele role," or someone who sat in front of the back four to break up attacks and recycle possession. Of course, no one could live up to the man himself.

In this XI, he's the first of an all-French defensive-midfield pairing, doing the real dirty work to help the rest of the team thrive.

He made 217 appearances for the Blues after signing from Real Madrid in 2003. He was among the first wave of players who signed for the club in the Roman Abramovich era, and while he perhaps wasn't as exciting a recruit as Juan Sebastián Verón, he surpassed the Argentinian in importance.

Makelele won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups during his time in England, but it's also where he truly made a name for himself—and arguably changed football history.

The second player in this XI's French midfield base is Patrick Vieira, perhaps one of the best players from the golden age of Premier League football.

Like midfield partner Makelele, the Gunners legend wasn't afraid of an Earth-shuddering challenge, but he also had the grace and elegance to progress the ball through the middle of the park and into attacking zones.

Perhaps the first modern-style box-to-box midfielder, Vieira was almost impossible to dispossess, his engine was unstoppable and his football brain was unparalleled.

In 405 appearances for Arsenal, he won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups (he also won one of the latter with Manchester City). He was also a key feature of the "Invincibles" team of 2003-04.

What. A. Player.

The first of interchangeable wingers, Thierry Henry is a Premier League icon.

The Frenchman is another player who has a statue outside the Emirates Stadium, but it was at Highbury where he really announced himself as a world-class talent.

In his first stint at the club, after moving from Juventus in the summer of 1999, Henry made 370 appearances, scored 228 goals and provided 96 assists. In that time, he won two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, was the Premier League's top scorer four times and a European Golden Shoe winner (given to the top scorer on the continent) twice.

During that period, he was also a Ballon d'Or runner-up in 2003, and second in the FIFA World Player of the Year list twice.

In a short spell back in London in 2011-12, he made seven more appearances and scored two more goals, including a memorable late winner against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round.

Of course, he also achieved notable success at Barcelona, and he has winners' medals from the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with France.

Pace, trickery, swagger, a penchant for the unexpected and the ability to score miraculous goals, Henry was a true joy to watch.

He is arguably the best player on this team, and he might be one of the finest players of all time.

Eden Hazard was a remarkable winger, but there's also a small amount of disappointment when looking at his career. He could have achieved so much more had injury not robbed him of his prime years.

The Belgium international was forced into retirement at the age of 32 after various ailments became too much to recover from.

Upon the announcement of his step back from the game, the Blues' website described him as "one of the greatest players in Chelsea history," and it's clear to see why the club gave him such high praise.

In 352 appearances, he scored 110 goals, won the club's Player of the Year award four times, and is one of only five Premier League players to both score and assist more than 15 goals in a single season (joining Thierry Henry, Matt Le Tissier, Eric Cantona, and Mohamed Salah).

He also won two Premier League titles, two Europa Leagues and an FA Cup with the club before departing for Real Madrid in the summer of 2019.

It never really worked out for Hazard in Spain, despite officially adding two La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey and a Champions League winner's medal to his career checklist.

He made just 76 appearances for Los Blancos in four years, scoring seven goals and adding 12 assists.

Still, during his Chelsea prime, Hazard was one of the most feared forwards around. He's earned his spot here.

Arsenal fans will protest this one, with this spot possibly ideal for either Cesc Fabregas or Dennis Bergkamp. However, this position is made for Frank Lampard.

The former England international has made the fourth-most appearances in Premier League history (609) and has also scored the seventh-most goals (177), with the next midfielder on list being Steven Gerrard at 23rd (120).

It's hard to argue Lampard isn't a legend of the English game.

He had an uncanny ability to be in exactly the right place at the right time, and that understanding of space, inherent sense of timing and a clinical finishing ability made him one of the finest players of his generation.

If only to emphasize that point, he has three Premier League winners' medals, four FA Cup titles, two League Cup trophy lifts, and European titles in both the Champions League and Europa League. He was also named Premier League Player of the Season once and earned the most assists in a season twice.

Thankfully for Lampard, his time in the Chelsea dugout was not considered for selection in this XI.

It was a really difficult call between Didier Drogba and Robin van Persie.

Drogba scored 104 in 254 Premier League games for the Blues, while the Dutchman had 96 in 194 appearances for the Gunners (adding 48 goals in 86 games in the English top flight for Manchester United).

The former Chelsea forward's stats are skewed slightly by the 28 games he played at the tail end of his career in a one-season return at the age of 36, making his numbers slightly less impressive.

But you've got to take overall success into account, and Drogba's contribution to winning four Premier League titles, four FA Cups and one Champions League gives him the edge—the only major trophy Van Persie won with the Gunners was the 2004-05 FA Cup.

At his best, Drogba was one of the deadliest strikers in the Premier League—not just because of his scoring output, but also because of his ability to bully defenders, infuriate them and force them into making mistakes.

He was the Premier League's top scorer in 2006-07 and 2009-10, with the latter a title-winning campaign. He was also man of the match in the 2012 Champions League final, in which he scored a late equalizer and converted the winning penalty in the shootout.

Drogba would be a fierce forward in this all-star XI.

GK: David Seaman (Arsenal)

CB: Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea)

CB: William Gallas (Arsenal/Chelsea)

CM: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal/Chelsea)

CM: Michael Essien (Chelsea)

AM: Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal)

FW: Robin van Persie (Arsenal)