Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois has insisted that his side are "in a good place" as they prepare for a showdown with bitter rivals Arsenal this weekend.

The Premier League champions began their title defence with a shock home loss to Burnley but have since gone on to win their next three league games and last night began their Champions League campaign with a 6-0 demolition of Qarabag.

The Gunners, meanwhile, have endured a more difficult start to the season, losing twice, including a 4-0 humiliation at Liverpool in August.

"It is good to face Arsenal now. Everybody is healthy and things are going well," Courtois told the Chelsea website. "We won at Leicester, won comfortably last night and will go into the Arsenal game with a good feeling.

"Do we feel like we are in a good place? Yes. Sometimes it is good to face a big team early. Last year it didn't work out against Liverpool and Arsenal, but this season we have already won at Tottenham.

"Arsenal had a few bad matches, but won comfortably [against Bournemouth] last weekend. Let's see what they do in the Europa League, but they will probably rest some guys.

"For us and for them it's a big game because we are third in the table. Obviously we want to close the gap [to the top] and take points off Arsenal as well."

The Blues won the equivalent fixture 3-1 last season.