Chelsea and Arsenal will do battle on Sunday afternoon in a blockbuster Premier League encounter.
The Blues go into the match in excellent form having won three matches in a row, scoring eight goals and keeping a clean sheet in each of the matches. A 3-0 win over Barcelona midweek means that confidence will be sky-high in Enzo Maresca’s camp as they prepare for a hugely difficult contest.
In Arsenal, Chelsea are facing a side who are arguably the top side in world football right now. Top of the Premier League and top of the Champions League league phase, it really couldn’t be going much better for Mikel Arteta’s side.
A 3-1 win over Bayern Munich midweek was a huge statement and the Gunners will be desperate to bring that form back to their domestic game against their London rivals.
Chelsea Team News
Chelsea have been boosted by the news that Cole Palmer is back in contention for the clash with Arsenal. The forward hasn’t featured since mid-September but could even start against the north Londoners.
Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo and Levi Colwill are long-term absentees. However, Essugo has returned to first team training in a big boost for the Blues.
Maresca Drops Chelsea Team News Hint
Chelsea boss Maresca was delighted to confirm the news about Palmer in his pre-Arsenal press conference.
He explained: “Yes, Cole is available for both [to play and to start].
“We are looking okay [after Barcelona]. Dario Essugo also took part of the session this morning, which is good news too.”
“Having Cole back is good news and everyone is happy,” added Maresca. The fans are happy, his team-mates are happy and the most important thing is that Cole is happy [to be back] because in the end, players want to play games and make the training sessions every day.
“He can help us a lot. He is probably our best player and we are happy he is back. Now we have to give him time to be 100 per cent fit. He has done fantastic in the past and no doubt he is going to do very good things for this club in the future.”
Chelsea Predicted XI
Chelsea predicted XI: Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Fofana, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Neto, Palmer, Garnacho; Joao Pedro
Chelsea predicted subs: Jorgensen, Gusto, Badiashile, Guiu, Hato, Santos, Acheampong, Estevao, Delap
Despite his heroics against Barcelona midweek, Estevao is likely to have to settle for a place on the bench. Palmer and Alejandro Garnacho should start the game with Joao Pedro leading the line.
Arsenal Team News
Leandro Trossard is a doubt for the clash with Chelsea after being forced off during the first half of the 3-1 Champions League win over Bayern Munich midweek. Despite what looked like a nasty injury, there’s a chance the Belgian forward could feature against the Blues.
Gabriel Jesus is ruled out of the Chelsea clash. However, he did take a big step forward in his recovery by featuring in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Thursday.
There’s also good news regarding Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz with both players in contention to feature in the London derby. Gyokeres hasn’t featured since the 2-0 win over Burnley, while Havertz hasn’t played since the opening weekend of the season.
Arteta Delivers Arsenal Team News Update
Arteta was quizzed on the availability of Trossard and Jesus ahead of the Chelsea game.
He explained: “With Leo, there’s another test today, we have to see how he’s feeling. It doesn’t look much, so we still have a few hours and we’ll have to see if there’s a potential chance (that he will be available).”
Discussing Jesus, Arteta said: “I think he’s evolving really, really well. We have to wait for the scan a little bit longer to be more precise in terms of the timings. I’m quite confident, especially the way Gabi takes every injury and the way he’s going to push everybody that it’s not going to be that long.”
Arsenal Predicted XI
Arsenal predicted XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori; Eze, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Merino, Madueke
Arsenal predicted subs: White, Odegaard, Martinelli, Kepa, Norgaard, Nwaneri, Gyokeres, Jesus, Mosquera
Following their 3-1 win over Bayern Munich, Arteta could make changes to freshen his side up. Trossard is unlikely to feature and could be replaced by Madueke.
Elsewhere, Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori could come into the team in place of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Cristhian Mosquera, with £655,000-a-week trio Ben White, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus starting from the bench.