Chelsea vs Arsenal – Match Preview

  • Tom Webb

    • Preview

    Chelsea got their second win of the season on Wednesday night against Maccabi Tel Aviv and tomorrow (Saturday) they will be looking to build on that as our rivals Arsenal travel across London to Stamford Bridge.

    In the Premier League, Chelsea have got off to a shocking start, only winning one of our five games. However on Wednesday night we thrashed Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-0 and put in a great team performance. Our London derby against Arsenal will certainly be a tough test and they’ll provide better competition than the Israeli side.

    The London derby against Arsenal is always a big game, but tomorrow’s is even bigger than usual. Chelsea desperately need to grab another Premier League win and go on a good running picking up points to get back to the top of the league. After our midweek win the players will have a gained a little bit of confident and this will need to be shown in their performances tomorrow.

    Mourinho faces a tough task tomorrow in choosing our starting 11. There were a lot of good individual performances against Maccabi, players such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Cesc Fabregas, Gary Cahill, Baba Rahman and Oscar all had good games. One thing which is certain is the fact that the side which played Everton just under a week ago needs changes if we want to stand the best chance of winning.

    Chelsea legend Petr Cech will return to Stamford Bridge tomorrow for the first time as an opponent. He will no doubt get a great reception which will be 100% deserved. After a shaky start to his Arsenal career, the Czech has bounced back and has been impressive like many expected him to be when he left Chelsea. His arrival at the Emirates added with our unimpressive start to the season will make tomorrow’s game harder than it has been in recent years.

    Come on Chelsea!

    Match details

    Saturday, 19th September, 12:45 PM (UK Time) at Stamford Bridge on BT Sport 1.

    Recent form and previous meetings

    Chelsea’s form in our last 5 games has certainly been below the standard everyone expected. In our last 5 games in all competitions, Chelsea have won 2, coming against West Bromwich Albion and Maccabi Tel Aviv. We have however lost 3, coming against Manchester City, Crystal Palace and Everton. Tomorrow Chelsea certainly need to get back to back wins by beating Arsenal.

    Arsenal have unfortunately had better form in their last 5 matches, winning 3, drawing 1 and losing 1. Chelsea are notoriously known for having a good record against Arsenal in recent years though.

    The last 10 games between Chelsea and Arsenal in all competitions are better viewing for Chelsea fans. We have won half of them, 5, there have been 3 draws and two wins for Arsenal.

    The last meeting between the two sides was in the Community Shield at Wembley. Arsenal won 1-0 thanks to an Oxlade-Chamberlain strike, this saw Wenger beat Mourinho for the first ever time.

    Again in our last 10 games against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in all competitions, Chelsea have the better record. The best team in London have won 7 of those, there has been 1 draw and 2 wins for Arsenal. In that time the most memorable game with them at home was certainly our 6-0 thrashing over Arsenal in the season before last. This was Wenger’s 1000th game in management which made it even sweeter. Mourinho was famously quoted before the game calling his biggest rival in management “a specialist in failure”

    Team news

    Mourinho confirmed in his press conference that Willian will definitely miss tomorrows match. He has a hamstring problem. This sees him added to the injury list alongside Thibaut Courtois. We also have two fitness doubts in summer signing Pedro and Oscar. They will be assessed later today. On Wednesday Chelsea welcomed back Ramires who has been out injured since our game at the Etihad last month. Another player who will be welcomed back is Radamel Falcao, he missed our Champions League opener but is available tomorrow.

    John Terry is also expected to be back in the starting 11 after he sat out our game during the week. Branislav Ivanovic’s place in the starting 11 remains to be uncertain though. Baba Rahman played well defensively on Wednesday so he may retain his place with Azpilicueta at right back. Another player who impressed during the same game was Ruben Loftus-Cheek, he will be considered by Mourinho. Fabregas may play in the number.10 role which could see Loftus-Cheek and Matic in the middle but this may be a step too soon for the youngster as Mourinho has stated he wants to protect him.

    Arsenal only have one player out injured. Jack Wilshere will definitely miss tomorrow’s game with a fibula bone hairline fracture. The England international needs an operation next week as it has failed to heel. Per Mertesacker is a doubt with illness, Wenger said he’ll be assessed and a decision will be made later today.

    Your predictions

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