A huge London derby beckons in the Premier League on Sunday with a win-needy Arsenal travelling to Chelsea.
Mikel Arteta has an excellent record against the Blues, with Chelsea falling behind the Gunners in their previous ten meetings against their capital rivals. Thomas Tuchel was in charge for their most recent triumph in this fixture.
However, they head into the weekend’s bout in more positive mood than the Gunners, who have won just two of their previous six games in all competitions. Arteta’s side are struggling for goals, and they’ve lost their last two games 1-0. There were positives to take from Wednesday night’s defeat to Inter, though.
Chelsea cruised to an 8-0 thumping of Armenian minnows Noah in the Conference League on Thursday with Enzo Maresca once again heavily rotating his side.
They missed an opportunity to secure a rare win at Manchester United last weekend, settling for a 1-1 draw, but they’re ahead of Sunday’s opponents in the Premier League table on goal difference.
Defeat for Arsenal here and many will be writing off their title challenge.
Cole Palmer was absent from Chelsea training in the week after he was caught late on by Lisandro Martinez in last Sunday’s draw at Old Trafford. However, Maresca is bullish on the England international’s chances of featuring on Sunday and it’d now be a surprise if the star playmaker didn’t start.
Chelsea lineup vs Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; James, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Lavia; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson.
Reports suggest Declan Rice may have broken his toe last Saturday at St. James’ Park, but Arteta has not ruled the midfielder out of Sunday’s game and he may be prepared to play through the pain in order to start.
Martin Odegaard made his long-awaited comeback from an ankle injury on Wednesday, but the Arsenal captain played just a few minutes in Milan and is unlikely to start at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal lineup vs Chelsea (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Partey, Rice, Trossard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.
