Gary Neville
Arsenal and Chelsea face off in a fascinating London derby on Sunday. The Gunners are naturally heavy favourites to win the Premier League title again this summer, having won the league last season and added quality this summer, although they did miss out on the elite left-winger they were hoping to sign.
Chelsea spent plenty of money themselves, bringing in top talents like Morgan Rogers, but their late loss of Enzo Fernandez will have fans concerned, with no replacement found at the back-end of the transfer window.
Both of these London clubs have won their first two Premier League games so far, although in very different fashion. Arsenal have two clean sheet wins, scoring four, while Chelsea have won 3-2 and 4-3, suggesting they have a dangerous attack but a particularly leaky defence.
Ahead of Sunday's big game, we have rounded up the pundit predictions from Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville and BBC Sport's Chris Sutton.
Gary Neville
Neville is backing Arsenal to win this one, but he suggested it will be a close encounter. He said: “They won’t defend in the same way as Villa so I think Arsenal may actually fancy their chances going forward more against Chelsea, but they’ll also have to be alert to the fact Chelsea have some fantastic attacking players.
“That’s what makes it really interesting. I think Arsenal will win the game but it’s a really good test for them and a really good moment to see Chelsea in the early days of Xabi Alonso.”
Chris Sutton
Writing in his BBC predictions column, Sutton predicted a 3-1 Arsenal win, reasoning: "Arsenal were a bit clunky last time out against Aston Villa, while I love what Xabi Alonso is doing at Chelsea. He doesn't care about possession, and that's not how Chelsea try to get results. It's strange because I had a look at how his Bayer Leverkusen side lined up when they won the Bundesliga, and they were pretty dominant possession-wise. So, it is quite alarming when you look at the two league games Chelsea have played and see how much of the ball they haven't had. Against Fulham, they only had 38% possession and then against Brighton it was down to 25%.
Jurrien Timber wheels away after scoring in Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
"I don't know whether that is by design or by just not having the players to dominate. They are still free-scoring, but they are conceding loads of goals too. Whatever the reason, I don't see it changing here Arsenal are so powerful and the only question mark around them is if they are a forward or two short.
"Even so, you would not exactly say they have a real weakness anywhere. The beauty of Mikel Arteta's side is they can play in different ways. They demolished Manchester City in the Community Shield with some pure football, and played some nice stuff against Coventry too, but then they were able to grind out a win at Aston Villa as well. Ultimately, whether they are free-flowing or not, their organisation should see them through this game too."
Last five Arsenal vs Chelsea meetings
Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea (Most recent)
Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea
Chelsea 2-3 Arsenal
Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea
They keys to the game - Arsenal vs Chelsea
REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
Chelsea's defending is key to this game, and it almost feels too obvious to say. The Blues may still be effective going forward, but they are not going to have as much success going forward as in previous games, given the quality of Arsenal's back-line, so they cannot rely on scoring themselves out of trouble.
But likewise, Arsenal need to prove they can be razor-sharp at the top end of the pitch. They have found scoring difficult against more organised teams at times, and that lack of elite option on the left is a concern for fans, even with Christos Tzolis playing well. The midfield battle is also going to be interesting, and with Arsenal having so much strength between Declan Rice and Bruno Guimaraes, it's going to be all eyes on Chelsea's midfield to see whether they can cope without Fernandez.
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