Chelsea host Arsenal in a mouthwatering London derby in the Premier League this weekend.
The Gunners are in desperate need of three points or they could wave goodbye to the title already.
Mikel Arteta‘s side are winless in their last three matches, losing to Newcastle and Bournemouth.
But a tie like this could be exactly what they need to spring back into life.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are progressing nicely under Enzo Maresca, and they’ll be feeling confident.
However, both sides do have some injury issues to contend with…
Chelsea
Despite gifting Manchester United a penalty last week, it seems as if Robert Sanchez will be in goal for the Blues.
Defensively, they have a clean bill of health.
This means we are likely to see a back four of Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella.
Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia are the best midfield pairing in the Premier League, according to Jason Cundy.
So, it seems unlikely that duo will be disrupted.
Cole Palmer is highly doubtful to be involved after being on the receiving end of a bad tackle against United.
In his place, Christopher Nkunku is likely to get a chance.
Jadon Sancho is struggling with illness, so Pedro Neto will be on the left and Noni Madueke has nailed down his spot on the right.
Nicolas Jackson is Maresca’s first-choice striker.
- Chelsea have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against Arsenal (D2 L6), a 2-0 away win in August 2021.
- Arsenal have won three of their last four Premier League away games against Chelsea (D1), as many as they had in their previous 20 visits to Stamford Bridge (D7 L10).
- Arsenal have won their last six Premier League London derby matches by an aggregate score of 22-3. They’ve won three of these six games by 5+ goals, having won just one of their first 295 such games by such a margin.
Arsenal
In goal, the Gunners will deploy David Raya despite not keeping a clean sheet in his last six league games.
Ben White will most likely play at right-back, with Jurrien Timber on the opposite side.
This is because Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu are injured.
William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes will continue their excellent partnership.
In midfield, Arteta is sweating on Declan Rice‘s fitness.
The England international broke his toe against Newcastle and missed the trip to the San Siro.
However, he is willing to play through the pain barrier, so it is up to Arteta what he does.
In more positive news, Martin Odegaard returned from an ankle injury as a late substitute against Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday.
This game is probably too soon for him to start but expect him to play a good chunk of minutes.
Thomas Partey, Leandro Trossard and Mikel Merino are likely to start as the midfield trio.
Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli should be on either wing, but Arteta might have an issue up front.
Kai Havertz suffered a cut to the head at the San Siro and will need to be assessed, so Gabriel Jesus could lead the line.
- Chelsea have conceded at least once in each of their last six Premier League home games, last having a longer such run between December 2015 and August 2016 (13). With five of those games coming in 2024-25, it’s their longest run without a home clean sheet from the start of a league campaign since 2011-12 (6).
- Arsenal have lost 2-0 to Bournemouth and 1-0 to Newcastle in their last two Premier League away games. They last lost three in a row on the road in December 2021, while they last did so without scoring in August 1994.
- Arsenal have lost just one of their last 26 Premier League games on the weekend immediately following a European fixture (W19 D6), going down 2-0 at home to Aston Villa in April. When facing Chelsea in such a match, they’ve lost five of their last seven, though the two exceptions have been in the last two meetings (0-0 in September 2017, 1-0 in November 2022).
Chelsea vs Arsenal: Date and how to follow
This Premier League game is set to take place on Sunday, November 10.
Kick-off at Stamford Bridge is scheduled for 4:30pm.
The match will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League.
Sky Go customers will be able to stream all the action through their laptops and mobile devices.
Alternatively, a NOW TV pass can be purchased. More details here.
talkSPORT will have updates throughout the afternoon, and talkSPORT.com will have the action on our dedicated Premier League blog.
To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
- Of all managers to face Chelsea at least 10 times in the Premier League, only Kenny Dalglish (77%) has a higher win rate against the Blues than Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta (60% – W6 D2 L2).
- No player has been involved in more Premier League goals this season than Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (7 goals, 5 assists), while he’s also created the most chances from open play this term (24). His first ever Premier League goal at Stamford Bridge came in this exact fixture last season – since then (and including that goal) he’s scored more home goals than any other player (21).
- Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka has provided more assists than any other player in the Premier League this season (7). He’s also either scored (1) or assisted (2) a goal in each of his last three away games against Chelsea in the Premier League, with Sergio Agüero (2013 to 2017) and Javier Hernandez (2012 to 2018) the only visiting players to do so in four consecutive appearances.
- Since the start of last season, Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson has been involved in more London derby goals than any other player in the Premier League (10 goals, 2 assists), with his 12 involvements coming in his last nine such appearances.
Chelsea vs Arsenal: What has been said?
talkSPORT host Cundy believes that Lavia and Caicedo are the best midfield duo in the Premier League.
Speaking on talkSPORT’s Inside Chelsea show, he said: “Maresca has to play them both. Caicedo is now starting to emerge as one of those leaders on the pitch and that’s really important.
“He plays like a captain and he looks like a captain, that’s something this squad has missed since [Cesar] Azpilicueta, [Mateo] Kovacic and [Olivier] Giroud left.
“Lavia and him, they are the pivot, they link up so well, Fernandez has a real problem now and won’t start against Arsenal.
“Name a better midfield two, and if there is one, there aren’t many more. I can’t think of a better midfield two in the Premier League than those two.”
