The Blues will make the trip to the Emirates Stadium to face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in the Premier League this Sunday.
It will be Arteta’s first game in charge at the Emirates and Frank Lampard will be eager to get one over their local bitter London rivals after beating Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur on their travels the last time out.
The matchup between the two London giants has always been an enticing affair with goals coming in thick and fast with guaranteed entertainment. In their previous three encounters, there have been a total of 12 goals scored, out of which Chelsea have netted seven while the Gunners have the other five to their name.
Frank Lampard’s outfit looks like the better side on paper at the moment but the Englishman will be aware that nothing can be taken for granted in this fixture which is quite unpredictable.
Chelsea has been able to produce their best form for matches against the top this season, as evident from their recent 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur that surprisingly came right in the middle of their poor run of form.
The West London giants have also put in solid performances against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, despite losing the match on both the occasions.
In terms of injuries, Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic missed the game against Southampton at Stamford Bridge as he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season, and he is expected to be back in the starting eleven for the crunch game on Sunday.
English right-back Reece James has a 50 percent chance of being fit for the London derby following an ankle injury.
Chelsea Predicted Starting Eleven- Kepa Arrizabalaga, Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma, Fikayo Tomori, Cesar Azpilicueta; N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Emerson, Mateo Kovacic; Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham