Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge this Sunday as they look to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table. Chelsea will be eager to put a dent in the assault that the Gunners have unleashed on the league this season.
The blues will be oozing with confidence after they comfortably dismantled Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night 3-0. The visitors will also be relishing in belief after putting both Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich to the sword over the past week.
Enzo Maresca's side have made an interesting start to the campaign. They've won seven out of their twelve games. Most notably they beat Liverpool at Stamford Bridge 2-1 courtesy of a late goal from Estevao and they managed a 1-0 win over their London rivals Tottenham thanks to Joao Pedro capitalising on a defensive error.
Consistency seems to be their problem. Results such as the 2-1 defeat at home to Sunderland and the 2-2 draw away at Brentford need to be cut out before Chelsea can claim to be serious title challengers.
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have showed serious improvements from past campaigns so far. Injuries have continued to haunt them but this time round there is adequate depth to deal with these issues. They sit six points above their opponents and look to complete a perfect week.
Arsenal are currently on a fifteen game unbeaten run in all competitions after their narrow 1-0 defeat to Liverpool back in August. They have conceded the least in the league with six and have scored the most with twenty-four.
Chelsea haven't won against Arsenal in any competition since August 2021. A seven game streak. They also haven't beaten the gunners at Stamford Bridge since 2018. Marcos Alonso scored late in the second half to snatch a 3-2 win for the blues. Since then, Arsenal have won three and drawn three. This means that Mikel Arteta has never lost at the Bridge as a manager.
Mikel Merino celebrates scoring the winner between the sides in March.
TEAM NEWS:
Chelsea: Levi Colwill, Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia will all miss out with long term injuries. Axel Disasi and Raheem Sterling won't feature due to being frozen out of the squad and Mykhaylo Mudryk is unavailable.
Arsenal: Gabriel will miss out due to a long term injury. Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres could feature but are both doubts. Gabriel Jesus is available and could make the bench. Leandro Trossard is being assessed after coming off against Bayern with a muscle problem.
PREDICTED LINE UPS:
Chelsea: Sanchez, James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Neto, Pedro, Garnacho, Delap.
Arsenal: Raya, Calafiori, Hincapie, Saliba, Timber, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze, Martinelli, Saka, Merino.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Chelsea - Pedro Neto
Pedro Neto in action against Burnley last weekend.
Neto has come into some rich form over the last few games in the Premier League. The Portuguese winger has scored three assisted two in his last five league appearances. He also scored a crucial equaliser in this exact fixture last season. His direct runs and aggressive wing play could cause some serious issues for Arsenal's defence.
Arsenal - Eberechi Eze
Eberechi Eze celebrates against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
Eze scored his first career hattrick last weekend against Tottenham Hotspur. He also assisted Gabriel Martinelli's goal which sealed a huge victory over Bayern Munich in midweek. It seems Eze is really settling into his element now with Arsenal. Captain Martin Ø degaard is expected to be available but if Eze is to play in the ten again, he will pose a huge threat to Chelsea.
MATCH DETAILS:
The game will take place at Stamford Bridge, London
Kick off is at 16:30 GMT on Sunday 30th November
The game will be televised in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League channels.