Chris Sutton and Paul Merson have both predicted the result of Sunday’s clash between Arsenal and Chelsea, making the same point about Liam Rosenior’s side.
For the third time in Liam Rosenior’s short stint as Chelsea manager, the Blues gaffer shares a dugout with Mikel Arteta. The first two occasions saw Arsenal edge past Chelsea, with two wins in the Carabao Cup.
Now, Rosenior and Arteta do battle in the Premier League with Chelsea’s hopes of Champions League qualification hanging by a thread. Draws to Leeds and Burnley have hampered hopes of the top five.
No Enzo Fernandez in our Starting XI!
What do you think, Blues?
Gary Lineker thinks Chelsea will finish sixth, and Liverpool’s win over West Ham means Chelsea need a result. Unfortunately, they have to do it at The Emirates. Both Merson and Sutton think it will be tricky.
Sutton and Merson say Chelsea won’t keep a clean sheet
So far, Rosenior has watched his Chelsea side manage just three clean sheets in 12 games in both league and cup. They came against Brentford, in which Chelsea rode their luck, as well as Pafos and Hull City.
Chris Sutton working as a pundit for the Scottish Cup final.
Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Predicting a 2-0 win for Arsenal, Chris Sutton told BBC’s website that he couldn’t see Chelsea keeping a clean sheet: “Chelsea can cause Arsenal problems because they have got players who can hurt anyone.
“But, I don’t see Liam Rosenior’s side keeping a clean sheet. In terms of the game, I can’t see anything other than a Gunners win,” Sutton added. Merson predicted a 1-0 Arsenal win on Sports Keeda’s website.
“Chelsea let in a goal every week without fail! It was a really bad result against Burnley last weekend. I expect Chelsea to be a threat, but I can’t see them keeping a clean sheet in this game,” Merson added.
Rosenior’s lack of clean sheets is not a new problem
It doesn’t come as a surprise that Rosenior is yet to discover his best centre-back partnership, and that Chelsea are expected to pursue a new defender or two come the summer transfer window.
Did Rosenior get his tactics wrong against Arteta? 🤔
Hindsight is a wonderful thing…
Prior to Rosenior’s first and only clean sheet in the Premier League, Chelsea had gone a month without keeping the opposition at bay. A 2-0 win over Everton in December, four weeks before Rosenior joined.
Wesley Fofana will be suspended on Sunday and it remains to be seen who Rosenior decides to start in the middle of his defence. Trevoh Chalobah should start, but it is unclear who will start alongside him.
Tosin is back in training, but Rosenior has Benoit Badiashile, Mamadou Sarr and Josh Acheampong to choose from. He could also revert to a back three, as he did in the second leg of the Cup semi-finals.
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