After an underwhelming display in their season opener, Arsenal will welcome Chelsea to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday and let’s take a look at the predicted lineup.
A late bout of illness robbed the Gunners of two of their senior attackers and an inept performance against the Bees added to their woes. They will go up against their London rivals this weekend and unless they improve drastically, it will be hard to take points off the Blues.
The north Londoners will be back in their 4-2-3-1 formation with Bernd Leno in goal. There are not going to be any changes in defence. This would result in Calum Chambers starting as the right-back and Kieran Tierney on the left.
In the centre of defence, Ben White will be with Pablo Mari. The Englishman had a tough time dealing with the presence of Ivan Toney last Friday. It will be even harder when he comes up against Chelsea’s new arrival Romelu Lukaku.
Thomas Partey is out injured and that would see Albert Sambi Lokonga get his second start of the season. Along with him, is going to be Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka who has to be careful this time around. Brentford made it a point to press the 28-year-old and succeeded in cutting out many passing lanes. The Blues would look to do the same on Sunday to gain an advantage.
New signing Martin Odegaard will unfortunately not be available for the London derby which would see Emile Smith Rowe continue as the attacking midfielder. One change that can be expected is Bukayo Saka starting on the right flank. The Englishman is key to the hopes of the Gunners. Ivorian winger Nicolas Pepe will be on the opposite flank.
Despite recovering from a COVID scare, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang might only be fit to start on the bench. This would see Gabriel Martinelli start as the centre forward and that is going to be a real test of the youngster’s abilities.
Arsenal have the talent to get a positive result and after doing the double over Chelsea last season, they should look to get the three points.
Arsenal Predicted Lineup against Chelsea (4-2-3-1):
Bernd Leno, Calum Chambers, Ben White, Pablo Mari, Kieran Tierney, Albert Lokonga, Granit Xhaka, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Nicolas Pepe, Gabriel Martinelli
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