Arsenal
host Chelsea in the Premier League on Wednesday as they attempt to regain
momentum following Sunday's 1-1 draw at West Brom.
Arsene Wenger and his players were left incensed by referee Mike Dean's
decision to award a late penalty for a Calum Chambers handball, as Jay
Rodriguez converted to rescue West Brom a point.
The incident saw Wenger charged by the FA over his conduct towards match
officials, while the draw left Arsenal trailing behind in the race for the
top four.
Chelsea currently sit third, seven points above Arsenal, and know victory at
the Emirates Stadium will see them leapfrog Manchester United into second.
The Blues have dropped just two points over the festive period so far,
having won four of their last five league games, most recently sticking five
past struggling Stoke.
Team news
Arsenal duo Mesut Ozil and Laurent Koscielny have an outside chance of
returning from injury to face Chelsea on Wednesday.
Koscielny's likelihood of playing is rated at 30 per cent by Wenger while
Ozil is close to recovering from a knee problem and will be assessed.
Sead Kolasinac, however, will be out for two weeks after taking a knock to
his ankle against West Brom on Sunday. Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud (both
hamstring) and Nacho Monreal (ankle) all remain sidelined.
Chelsea have no fresh injury problems for the trip to Arsenal, though
defender David Luiz (knee) and forward Charly Musonda (groin) remain out.
Both have returned to training and could feature in Saturday's FA Cup trip
to Norwich.
Opta Stats
Arsenal won this exact fixture 3-0 last season, after a five-game winless
run against them in the Premier League at the Emirates (D3 L2).
In all competitions, no team has won more away games at the Emirates Stadium
than Chelsea (5, level with Man Utd).
The last time Arsenal didn't lose either Premier League meeting with Chelsea
in a season was in 2011-12 (W1 D1), while the last time they kept a clean
sheet in both league meetings was 1998-99.
Arsenal have failed to score in seven of their last nine games against
Chelsea in the Premier League, netting just four goals in total in this run.
There have been six red cards in the last seven meetings between these sides
in all competitions, with Chelsea having a player sent off in each of the
last three.
Merson's prediction
This is a good game. I have seen Arsenal a lot this season and they do give
you chances. Going forward Chelsea are better than some of the teams Arsenal
have played recently and I think they will pick them off as the game goes
on.
There doesn't seem a lot of good harmony at Arsenal at the moment. That
celebration the other day was worrying. When you are winning it's OK but you
don't win that many games when it's like that. Not everybody likes everybody
in a football team, that's fact, but when you get on the pitch whatever
happens off the pitch you give your all together, that is what wins you
trophies, not petulance like 'I don't like him so I won't celebrate with
him'. That doesn't win you anything.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-3 (18/1 with Sky Bet)
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