Chelsea host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in a huge London derby clash.
Victory would see Chelsea climb to fifth for at least a few hours, whilst Arsenal can move back to the summit with a win.
Team News
Ben Chilwell is ruled out for Chelsea after he suffered a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s Champions League win against Dinamo Zagreb.
Denis Zakaria (knock) and Mateo Kovacic (calf) are doubts but Kepa Arrizabalaga (foot), Reece James, Wesley Fofana (both knee) and N’Golo Kante (hamstring) remain absent.
Arsenal could be without Takehiro Tomiyasu after the Japanese defender suffered a knock in Thursday’s Europa League win against Zurich.
Emile Smith Rowe (groin) and Mohamed Elneny (hamstring) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea have claimed just four points from their last five league meetings against Arsenal (W1, D1, L3).
- Arsenal are unbeaten in four of their last five visits to Stamford Bridge (W2, D2, L1).
- Emile Smith Rowe has scored in each of Arsenal’s last two trips to Chelsea (W2).
- Jorginho’s three goals for Chelsea in all competitions this season have been scored from the penalty spot.
- Three of Arsenal’s four conceded legaue goals away from home have been scored after half-time.
Prediction
Following last Saturday’s horror show at Brighton, Chelsea did well to come from behind to beat Dinamo Zagreb in midweek with a solid response despite their initial lacklustre reaction to conceding an early goal.
Graham Potter though needs to ensure that his team is more defensively solid here because if they think Brighton and Dinamo Zagreb were difficult, they could be in for a difficult afternoon against a fierce Arsenal team.
Speaking of the Gunners, they certainly showed that they can win ugly following a grinder of a match against Zurich on Thursday evening, albeit without key players like William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli who were rested so I expect a more attacking Arsenal effort like we saw against Forest last weekend.
For me though, this result could boil down to how solid Chelsea are defensively because unlike in midweek, if the Blues concede first then I just don’t see them getting three points but a draw would be a fair return if Arsenal aren’t at the races like in their last two away games in all competitions.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-2 Arsenal
Result: Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal
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