Arsenal will be traveling to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in the Premier League on Wednesday following a comfortable 3-1 win against West Bromwich Albion over the weekend.
The North London side won the previous encounter at home against Frank Lampard’s Chelsea in late December. However, the Blues have transformed into a world-class team under the guidance of Thomas Tuchel.
They have only lost a game at home and are still unbeaten away from home in all competitions since the German took over. The Blues got past Manchester City twice this season and will once again meet them in the Champions League final. These stats will give Mikel Arteta plenty to think about ahead of this crucial game.
The Gunners boss will continue with the 4-2-3-1 formation and Bernd Leno is the only man who is certain to keep his place from the weekend’s starting eleven.
Rob Holding and Gabriel Magalhães will start at the center of defence due to the uncertainty over the availability of David Luiz and Pablo Mari. Kieran Tierney is expected to start after making a substitute appearance at the weekend and Calum Chambers will retain his place on the right.
Thomas Partey should be in the starting eleven alongside Egyptian Mohamed Elneny in central midfield and Martin Odegaard is likely to start as the attacking-midfielder with Emile Smith Rowe missing out with injury.
Bukayo Saka and Nicolas Pepe will be on the flanks. They will have to utilize the gaps between the overlapping wing-backs and the wide center-backs to stretch the well-organized defensive structure of the Blues.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will lead the line for the North Londoners after being rested against the Baggies. The North Londoners will be hoping that their captain can fire on all cylinders and if that happens, they can do the league double over Chelsea.
Arsenal can’t afford to think of anything less than a win as they will have to win all their remaining games to keep up hopes of qualifying for the Europa League.
Predicted Arsenal Line-up Against Chelsea (4-2-3-1):
Bernd Leno, Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney, Mohamed Elneny, Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
