Team
news, key stats and prediction ahead of Chelsea vs Arsenal in the Premier
League on Tuesday (kick-off 8.15pm).
Team news
Chelsea will hand Reece James a late fitness test ahead of Tuesday's Premier
League clash with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
The 20-year-old full-back suffered a knee problem in Saturday's 1-0 loss at
Newcastle, but has avoided any serious setback.
Fellow full-back Marcos Alonso is fit again after a thigh issue and will be
in the squad.
Arsenal will once again be without suspended captain Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang for the short trip across London.
The striker will serve the second of a three-match ban for his sending-off
at Crystal Palace, with head coach Mikel Arteta waiting to see if defender
Sokratis Papastathopoulos recovers from illness in time to be involved.
Reiss Nelson (hamstring), Sead Kolasinac (thigh), Kieran Tierney (shoulder)
and Calum Chambers (knee) are all definite absentees.
Mikel Arteta says Arsenal have to beat Chelsea if they are to keep their
top-four hopes alive
Opta stats
Chelsea are looking to complete the Premier League double against Arsenal
for the fifth time (2005-06, 2009-10, 2012-13 and 2015-16). Only Liverpool
(5) and Man Utd (5) have done this against the Gunners on as many as five
occasions.
Arsenal are winless in their last seven Premier League away games against
Chelsea (D1 L6) since winning 5-3 in October 2011. However, no team has won
more Premier League away games at Stamford Bridge than the Gunners (7).
This will be the ninth time Chelsea and Arsenal have met in a Premier League
match kicking off at 7pm or later - six of the previous eight have been
drawn, with Chelsea winning 1-0 in March 1993 and Arsenal winning 3-1 in
December 2010.
In all competitions, Chelsea have lost six home games this season - they
last lost more at Stamford Bridge in a single campaign back in 1994-95 (7).
Arsenal have won just one of their last 10 away Premier League games (D6
L3), though they are unbeaten in their last five on the road (W1 D4).
Chelsea have already lost as many Premier League games this season as they
did during the entirety of last season under Maurizio Sarri (eight defeats).
Arsenal have dropped 13 points from winning positions in the Premier League
this season, with more than half of these coming since Mikel Arteta was
appointed manager in December (7).
In all competitions, Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli has scored nine goals in
10 starts for the club. Martinelli is looking to become the first
18-year-old to score in consecutive Premier League matches for the Gunners
since Nicolas Anelka in January 1998.
Frank Lampard is looking to become the first English Chelsea manager to do
the league double against Arsenal since Dave Sexton in 1969-70.
Only Norwich City (6,245) have given more Premier League minutes to players
aged 21 or younger this season than Chelsea (5,736) and Arsenal (4,091).
top