Arsenal have the opportunity to return to winning ways in the Premier League when they entertain cross-town rivals Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The Gunners recently dropped six points behind fourth-placed Chelsea in the standings after the derby defeat at West Ham United and this has further increased the importance of the weekend game where they cannot afford a defeat at any cost.
Formation: 3-4-1-2
Predicted Lineup:
Bernd Leno has commanded the first-choice position between the sticks since October and he should retain the same for the cross-town derby against the Blues.
In the backline, Unai Emery may seek a cautious approach to the game and this may witness him stick with the three-man central defence to curb the Blues threat.
In this case, Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulous should take up the positions while Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal may feature ahead of them in the right and left wing-back spots after making their injury comebacks in the previous matchday.
In the midfield, Granit Xhaka has remained an ever-present figure under Emery and the Swiss should retain his starting role for the derby. However, we are anticipating a swap between Mateo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira with the latter potentially earning his maiden Gunners start of the calendar year.
Going forward, we are anticipating a rare league start for Aaron Ramsey after the Welshman produced a glowing performance off the bench against West Ham despite the game ending in a defeat.
Ramsey may likely take up the number 10 position with Alexandre Lacazette potentially partnering the league’s joint-top scorer in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang upfront.
