Arsenal lay host to their neighbours Chelsea as Mikel Arteta looks to helm his first game at Emirates. The former Gunners midfielder had a decent debut on the boxing day with a draw against Bournemouth.
Chelsea, on the other hand, have found it difficult to win in the latter past and when they travel to other part of London they would want to increase the gap from Arsenal who are chasing them for the fourth position.
Arsenal and Chelsea both have been weak in their defence and we can thus expect a high-scoring encounter. Despite the banal form of both the teams we can expect a thriller to unfold.
When and Where:
Date: December 29, Sunday
Time: 6:00 AM PT | 9:00 AM ET | 2:00 PM BT
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Team News
As Arteta looks to freshen his squad, he would be intimated to give Nicolas Pepe a start. The experienced defender Sokratis was injured during the game against Bournemouth and is unavailable whose place can be taken by Calum Chambers.
In the midfield, we will most likely see the trio of Xhaka, Guendouzi and Ozil performing ahead of Lucas Torreira. Aubameyang will surely hold the key for Arteta as the manager finds a way to trust his star striker.
As for the visitors, the return of Kovacic from his one-match ban comes in as a boost. The form of Callum-Hudson Odoi has been a head ache for Frank Lampard and the youngster may well be replaced by Mason Mount.
Head To Head
Sunday’s encounter between the clubs is their 199th meeting wherein Arsenal have won 77 fixtures as compared to 67 victories of Chelsea.
The last fixture was a cakewalk for Chelsea. The Blues cruised past Gunners with ease. This will be the first contest between the teams since Chelsea recorded a 4-1 win in the Europa League final in May.
Predicted Line-up
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Leno; Maitland-Niles, Chambers, Luiz, Saka; Xhaka, Guendouzi; Pepe, Ozil, Aubameyang; Lacazette
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Arrizabalaga; Rudiger, Zouma, Tomori; Azpilicueta, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso; Willian, Mount; Abraham
