Team
news, stats and prediction ahead of Arsenal vs Chelsea in the Premier League
on Super Sunday.
Team news
Arsenal will welcome back Calum Chambers from suspension for Sunday's
Premier League clash with London rivals Chelsea.
Defender Chambers missed the Boxing Day draw at Bournemouth having picked up
his fifth top-flight booking of the season.
Gabriel Martinelli will be assessed on the hamstring injury which kept him
sidelined at the Vitality Stadium, while Rob Holding (knee), Sead Kolasinac
(ankle) and Kieran Tierney (shoulder) are absent.
Chelsea full-backs Marcos Alonso and Reece James will be given last-minute
fitness checks ahead of the short trip to the Emirates Stadium.
Alonso and James both missed out on the Blues' 2-0 home loss to Southampton
on Boxing Day through injury and will be handed late fitness tests.
Boss Frank Lampard could rotate resources again to combat the festive
fixture glut, with Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic possibly restored to the
starting line-up.
Opta stats
Arsenal have won two of their last three Premier League home games against
Chelsea (D1), as many as they had in their previous 12 against the Blues (D5
L5).
Chelsea lost this exact fixture 2-0 in January - they've not lost
consecutive league games against Arsenal since October 2011, while they last
lost back-to-back away league games against them in October 2003 (a run of
three).
Arsenal have never lost a Premier League home game against Chelsea when
they've scored the first goal, winning 11 and drawing four of their 15 such
games.
Arsenal lost their final league game of 2018, 5-1 against Liverpool. They've
not lost their last league game in consecutive calendar years since
1994/1995 (vs QPR and Wimbledon).
Chelsea have only lost their final league game in one of the last 16
calendar years (W11 D4), going down 1-3 at home to Aston Villa in 2011.
Charlie's prediction
Chelsea are still up and down, with significant class and real quality. I
touched on it last week, but Willian has been class this season - he was
left out and they lose at home to Southampton. They are in a better shape
organisationally. The movement of Willian, Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and
Christian Pulisic will cause problems. They have nice pace and nice balance,
while Jorginho and N'Golo Kante have been good when they have time on the
ball.
What changes do Chelsea have to make? They are very limited to the changes
they can make - the three at back worked at Tottenham but didn't work
against Southampton. There are too many mistakes within the defence, but
let's switch it back to Arsenal.
Granit Xhaka may be off, so he picked what he thought was the best balance
in midfield. As much as I like what Matteo Guendouzi has, he has been poor
and struggled at times, but he will come good and may come back into the
fold at some point. You see that he had to play Bukayo Saka at left back,
but he has done very well considering he is an attacker.
Alexandre Lacazette is back in the team, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is
scoring, but Lacazette was sluggish - he needed that game. Mesut Ozil was
subbed but wasn't finding the space, so you can see why. I enjoyed the
desire and a bit of fight from the Arsenal team I saw at Bournemouth. This
should lift the big players. He could make a few changes, but my heart is
ruling my head here.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 3-2 (22/1 with Sky Bet)
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