One of the most highly-anticipated Premier League fixtures is due to take place this weekend, as fierce rivals Chelsea and Arsenal square off at Stamford Bridge in a top of the table encounter.
We’ll take a look at the injury records of each club before they come to blows on Sunday afternoon, before making an official prediction. Who will enter this crucial game in a better position than the other? Let’s take a look.
In their last outing, which took place in March of this year, Arsenal ran out as 1-0 winners. Mikel Merino scored the only goal of the game – will it be repeat or revenge this time around?
Chelsea injury news
Ahead of their London Derby against Arsenal, Chelsea have four players who will be unavailable, with a further player being a serious injury doubt.
Levi Colwill, Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia are all injured and will miss out on Sunday’s game, while Mykhailo Mudryk continues to serve his suspension following his doping allegations.
Cole Palmer has recently been confirmed as to be fit to play at the weekend by Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca – could this swing things in the Blues’ favour?
Arsenal injury news
Arsenal are faring a little better than Chelsea on the injury front. They have two players who will definitely miss out on their match at Stamford Bridge, while another three are considered to be doubtful.
Both Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Jesus have been ruled out of the game. Gabriel Magalhaes’ injury has been sustained recently and will keep him out of action until the end of 2025, while Gabriel Jesus’ ACL injury has kept him out of action for almost a whole year at this point.
Meanwhile, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyokeres are all considered major injury doubts. Martin Odegaard, however, should be fit to play.
Match prediction
The current Arsenal team looks to already have one hand on the Premier League title – their fantastic start to the 2025/26 campaign has been unrivalled by their peers this season. However, Chelsea may pose them with their toughest challenge yet.
They each put in excellent performances in the Champions League during midweek, as Chelsea obliterated Barcelona by a score of 3-0 and Arsenal overcame Bayern Munich by a score of 3-1. As such, they are both entering this one in fine form.
Additionally, with the game taking place at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea will have the home advantage running in their favour. Nevertheless, the Gunners have a stellar record away from home this season, having won four of their six games away from the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League.
Furthermore, Chelsea aren’t the strongest team in the league when it comes to defending set pieces. They have conceded 11 goals from set plays against this season in the Premier League – they will need to tighten up in this respect, or Arsenal will almost certainly take advantage of it.
We’ll back an Arsenal win in this one, but Chelsea will run them close – a narrow away win seems like the most likely outcome on Sunday.
Final prediction: Chelsea 1-2 Arsenal