Arsenal will clash heads with Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening looking to close the gap with their opponents in the Premier League table. The Gunners are currently six points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, and so Unai Emery has no option but to go all guns blazing for the win in front of their loyal home supporters.
However, the Pensioners are no push-overs and will look to cause a few problems for the struggling Arsenal defence that has conceded 32 goals in 22 league matches so far this season. This London derby has the makings of a great contest with both teams aiming to come away with maximum points from this weekend’s showdown.
Team News
Arsenal
Konstantinos Mavropanos is a significant doubt for this contest at the Emirates Stadium while the likes of Rob Holding, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Danny Welbeck remain long-term casualties. Other than that, Emery has a full squad of players to choose from as he leads his side to win this crucial derby on Saturday evening.
Chelsea
Danny Drinkwater and Alvaro Morata will both be in a race against time to be fit for this weekend’s clash. However, Ruben Loftus-Cheek can all be ruled out of this contest against the Gunners due to a serious injury.
Predicted Lineups
Arsenal
Bernd Leno; Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Laurent Koscielny; Hector Bellerin, Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka, Sead Kolasinac; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Iwobi
Chelsea
Kepa Arrizabalaga; Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz, Marcos Alonso; NGolo Kante, Jorginho, Mateo Kovačić; Pedro, Eden Hazard, Willian
Key Men
Arsenal
Both Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac will need to have a good game down the wide areas if the home team are to stretch the Chelsea defence so that the likes of Lacazette and Aubameyang can get some excellent opportunities on the attacking end of the pitch. Torreira and Xhaka will also need to distribute the ball well in midfield to maintain Arsenal’s dominance at the centre of the park.
Chelsea
Eden Hazard will once again be Maurizio Sarri’s biggest weapon going forward. Moreover, both Rudiger and Luiz needs to find a way to neutralise the threat of the Gunners forwards this weekend so that the Pensioners can come away with a result from North London.
Odds
Arsenal win – 21/10
Draw – 13/5
Chelsea win – 11/8
