Manchester United legends Paul Scholes and Roy Keane are in disagreement over the outcome of the huge London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea.
Premier League leaders Arsenal welcome Club World Cup holders Chelsea to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners, bidding to become Premier League champions for the first time since 2004, dropped points against Brentford and Leeds United earlier in the month before getting their title charge back on track in a one-sided north London derby against Tottenham.
Arsenal boast a five-point lead over title rivals Manchester City with 11 games remaining but Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand and a home match against the Gunners to potentially reclaim top spot.
Mikel Arteta’s team could only draw with Chelsea earlier in the season and will be keen to avoid more dropped points as they look to secure their first league title in 22 years.
Arsenal will be buoyed by their recent Carabao Cup tie with Chelsea, which they won 4-2 on aggregate to progress to the final against title rivals Man City.
Chelsea, meanwhile, enjoyed a strong start under new manager Liam Rosenior but could only draw with Leeds and Burnley in their last two league games.
Rosenior is aiming to secure a top-four spot after being hired as Enzo Maresca’s replacement last month but Chelsea are currently three points behind fourth-placed Manchester United.
Despite Chelsea’s recent wobble, Scholes expects the Blues to get at least a point against Arsenal as he did not see much between the teams in their Carabao Cup clash.
‘I fancy Chelsea. I think it could be 0-0. I think it will be a draw or a Chelsea win,’ Scholes said on The Overlap.
‘Arsenal only won the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final because Chelsea needed to get a goal late on and it opened up.’
Scholes’ former Manchester United teammate Keane has less faith in Chelsea, however, and says they will ‘do something daft again’, pointing towards their dismal disciplinary record.
Chelsea have had more red cards than any other Premier League team this season, with Wesley Fofana the latest to be dismissed during the disappointing draw with Burnley.
‘They will do something silly and get a man sent off again,’ ex-United captain Keane said. ‘Chelsea will do something daft you watch.’
Ian Wright, perhaps unsurprisingly given his status as an Arsenal legend, also backed the Gunners to get one over their London rivals.
‘I’m going to go 3-1,’ Wright said before confidentially adding: ‘We’re going to murder them.’
Arsenal’s lead in the title race could be just two points by the time they face Chelsea as Manchester City take on Leeds the previous day.