Chelsea turned up the pressure on Arsenal’s game on Thursday with a win over RB Salzburg in the Champions League.

Though they may not immediately appear to be related, the Champions League Group E results on Tuesday put a bit of pressure on Arsenal this week.

With Chelsea winning 2-1 against RB Salzburg and AC Milan winning against Dinamo Zagreb, Chelsea sit top of their Champions League group with one game remaining.

But whilst Chelsea are only three points clear of AC Milan in second, they have the head-to-head advantage over the Italians. As a result, they can afford to throw their final game against Dinamo Zagreb next Wednesday. They’ll finish top either way.

That allows Graham Potter to rest all his key starters ahead of Chelsea’s match against Arsenal that weekend.

Arsenal also play in the midweek before the Chelsea clash, hosting FC Zurich at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday. Whether they need to take that match seriously depends on this Thursday’s result against PSV.

If Arsenal win or draw in Eindhoven, then next Thursday’s game against FC Zurich is irrelevant. Like Potter, Mikel Arteta will have the luxury of sending out the reserves and youth players if he wants to.

But if Arsenal lose to PSV, only a win against Zurich will guarantee the top spot in the group – an important thing to secure to avoid the extra knockout round for group runners-up next February.

If Arsenal need a win next Thursday, you’d imagine Arteta will want to play it safe and include a few of his usual starters. But that hands Chelsea the advantage a few days later.

That problem can be avoided by picking up a point (or three) against PSV, so the pressure is on that game now.