In the fifth round of the Premier League, Chelsea played away at Brentford. The 36-year-old Henderson started, becoming the oldest English player to start a Premier League match for Chelsea since John Terry in 2017.

Making his Chelsea debut in this away match against Brentford, Henderson marked the occasion with a starting appearance.

According to statistics, the 36-year-old Henderson has become the oldest English player to start a Premier League match for Chelsea since John Terry, who was also 36 when he started against Sunderland in May 2017.

Xabi Alonso said Chelsea are currently not consistent enough to compete with Premier League rivals for the full 90 minutes, after they were thrashed 3-0 by Brentford.

Having started their first campaign under Alonso impressively with back-to-back wins over Fulham and Brighton, the Blues are now winless in three league games.

They made the short trip to the Gtech Community Stadium off the back of a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal and a 2-2 draw with Hull City, and they were without August’s Premier League Player of the Month, Joao Pedro, after he sustained a knee issue.

They combined a lacklustre attacking performance with some rookie defending in the second half as Brentford ran out comfortable winners, with the goals coming from Jaidon Anthony, Igor Thiago and Fabio Carvalho.

The 12 goals Chelsea have conceded this season are the most in the Premier League, ahead of the weekend’s fixtures, while they have also given up the most expected goals against (8.82 xGA).

Speaking afterwards, Alonso said: “I’m disappointed with the second half and with the result. This is not enough to compete in the Premier League.

“We were not able to maintain our level for the full 90 minutes and that’s why we were punished today.

“At the moment, we are not consistent enough to compete throughout the whole game – 45 minutes is not enough.

“You need to maintain it for the whole game, knowing that every detail is important, and every action can be decisive.”

Asked how Chelsea could plug their leaky backline, he added: “It’s about everything.

“It’s about the mentality, the football and the tactical things that we need to keep improving. We can do much better.”

Alonso also refused to use Joao Pedro’s absence as an excuse for Chelsea only managing two shots on target and 0.85 expected goals, compared to Brentford’s six efforts on target and 2.65 xG.

“It’s not about looking for excuses. We need to look at each other and know that we have to work and improve because there is still a long way to go,” he said.

“We have to check many things. We got into situations, but we were not precise enough with the final action. That’s why we didn’t score.”

Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya has “elevated the team to a different level” in recent years.

Raya joined Arsenal from Brentford in 2023, initially on a season-long loan before joining permanently the following year, and has made 153 appearances for the Gunners.

Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Raya has kept more clean sheets (72) than any other goalkeeper in the top five European leagues, while he has saved 72.3% of the shots he has faced.

In that same time, only Caoimhín Kelleher (five) has saved more penalties among Premier League goalkeepers in all competitions (excluding shoot-outs) than Raya, following the Spaniard’s save against Enzo Le Fee last time out.

Raya helped Arsenal win the Premier League last season, claiming his third consecutive Golden Glove in the process, and reach the Champions League, and Arteta praised his goalkeeper’s impact on the squad.

When asked if Raya has been his best signing at Arsenal, Arteta said: “He’s been a tremendous signing, there is no question about that.

“Whether he is the best or not is just an opinion. It doesn’t matter, we are so happy to have him.

“He has elevated the team to a different level and now we have to maintain that level.

“I think it’s his mentality. David has tremendous quality but he has overcome a lot of difficulties and challenges to reach this point. It wasn’t easy at the beginning, he had to dig in and prove himself.

“Now, he has the right to be one of the best.”

Arsenal will look to maintain their perfect start to the season when they face Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Gunners have won four of their last six Premier League games against Brighton (D2), as many as they had in their first 12 against the Seagulls (D3 L5).