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After a disappointing mid-week for English clubs in the Champions League, the focus shifts back to the domestic circuit, where the 6th Round of Premier League games kicks off. One such fixture which catches the eye is the London Derby between defending champions Chelsea and early-season title contenders Arsenal.
Apart from on-pitch affairs, this fixture is expected to steal the limelight from the touchline, where bitter rivals Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger are set to lock horns once again. The two managers have had quite a war of words between them in the past, and fans can expect more of the same to materialize this weekend.
Wenger admitted he was ‘relieved’ at having broken his winning duck against the Portuguese (Community Shield 2015), whereas Mourinho, after a poor start to the season suggested that his side were still ‘title-contenders’ and were ‘candidates’ to defeat the Gunners on Saturday.
This fixture also marks a first return to Stamford Bridge for long-serving goalkeeper Petr Cech, who made 333 league appearances for Chelsea, bagging 166 clean sheets.
Team News
Chelsea
Chelsea’s horrible start to the season has not been helped by the absence of Willian to a muscle injury he sustained during the Champions League tie against Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Pedro remain sidelined with knee and thigh injuries respectively.
Arsenal
Arsenal have no fresh injury concerns as they continue to miss the services of Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Danny Welbeck. Per Mertesacker is not 100% fit and may find himself just a place on the bench even if passed fit.
Kick-Off and Live Telecast
Channel: StarSports 2, StarSports HD2
Livestream: StarSports.com
Date: Saturday, 19th September
Kick-Off: 1245 BST (1715 IST)
Venue: Stamford Bridge, London
Form
Chelsea
What has shocked Chelsea’s faithful this season is the ineffectiveness of players who stood out for them on so many occasions in their title-winning campaign. Eden Hazard inability to outsmart defenders with his box of tricks this season and Cesc Fabregas’ inconsistency in a box-to-box midfield role have been primary factors in their lack of goal-scoring opportunities up front.
However, their main problems have been at the back, which has shipped a league-high 12 goals after 5 games, the highest in the league thus far. This has been a drastic contrast to last season, where they finished as the best defence in the entire Football League, conceding just 32 goals in 38 games.
Branislav Ivanovic has been Chelsea’s biggest liability at the back with his apparent weakness while dealing with set-pieces and poor crossing up the field. Zouma and Cahill’s centre-back partnership still looks like a fledgling one.
Chelsea’s players badly need a high-profile clash to lift their game, and victory over city rivals Arsenal will give them the ideal platform to bounce back to winning ways and spring a comeback to their title-winning form from the previous campaign.
Last five games (All Competitions): W-L-L-W-L (Most recent: Chelsea 4-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv)
Arsenal
Apart from a blip against West Ham, Arsenal have looked impressive during the opening six weeks of the season. Their midfield has been easily the most functional in the Premier League, creating myriad chances and also having earned the luxury of the most number of shots on goal.
Their defence has also looked fairly assured, with Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel Paulista sowing the seeds of a strong centre-back partnership. Francis Coquelin has also been in excellent touch in front of the defence.
However, to win games, teams need to score goals, and it is this attribute that been their major Achilles Heel. There have been multiple instances where Arsenal have dominated since the first minute without a goal to show for it.
Though they have had the most attempts on goal, they suffer the worst conversion rate, and their strikers Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud will have to improve their acuity in front of goal if they are to overcome their London rivals, and the indifferent form of Chelsea’s back 4 provides them the perfect opportunity to convert chances into goals.
Last five games (All Competitions): L-W-W-D-W (Most recent: Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 Arsenal)
Key Stats
- This is the second meeting between these 2 sides this season. Arsenal faced Chelsea in this year’s Community Shield, which Arsene Wenger’s men won 1-0.
- Arsenal are yet to taste victory against a side led by Jose Mourinho in the Premier League.
- They have failed to score against Chelsea in their last 4 league meetings, conceding 8(all at Stamford Bridge).
- Chelsea have just 4 points from their opening 5 games, their worst top-flight start in nearly 30 years, and are yet to taste a league victory in front of their own fans this season.
- They have shipped 12 goals in 5 games, the highest in the Premier League so far.
- Diego Costa has scored just once in 5 Premier League appearances this season. He had already netted 7 times at this stage last season.
- Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 8 away games in the Premier League. Their last league defeat on their travels came against North-London rivals Tottenham(1-2) in February.
- Although they have had the most shots per game this season(22.4), their conversion rate(4.46%) is the worst in the Premier League thus far.
- Alexis Sanchez has failed to score in his last 9 appearances for the Gunners.
Possible Line-ups
Chelsea
After another disappointing performance in the 3-1 defeat to Merseyside club Everton, Jose Mourinho rung the changes to great effect in their 4-0 demolition of Maccabi Tel-Aviv. The 52-year old will be hoping for a similar display, especially at the back to keep Arsenal’s menacing midfield at bay.
With Nemanja Matic also underperforming in a shielding midfield role, Mourinho is likely to give 19-year old Ruben Loftus-Cheek a start following his excellent display against Tel-Aviv. He is also likely to stick to Chelsea’s long-serving midfielder in John-Obi Mikel. With Willian absent, Fabregas is likely to get another opportunity to redeem himself in an attacking midfield role.
He is also likely to stick with Cesar Azpilicueta at Right-Back in place of Branislav Ivanovic, and hand a first Premier-League start to natural left-back Baba Rahman, who adapted very well against the Israeli outfit.
Chelsea’s possible line-up (4-2-3-1): Begovic – Azpilicueta, Cahill, Zouma, Baba Rahman – Loftus-Cheek, Mikel – Oscar, Fabregas, Hazard - Diego Costa
Arsenal
Barring any last minute injury and fatigue concerns, Wenger is set to stick to the same lineup that completed a routine 2-0 win over the Potters, with Walcott poised to start in the lone striker’s role once again, resigning Giroud to the bench.
Arsenal’s possible line-up (4-2-3-1): Cech - Bellerin, Koscielny, Gabriel, Monreal - Coquelin, Ramsey- Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez – Walcott
Key Battles
Hector Bellerin vs Eden Hazard
One of Chelsea’s biggest disappointments this season has been the lacklustre performances of PFA Player of the Year, Eden Hazard. The 24 year-old, known worldwide for his magic with the ball at his feet, has struggled to make any impact on the pitch, with just a solitary assist in 5 games. Hector Bellerin, meanwhile, has been an asset to Arsenal on the right side of the pitch, using his pace to get involved in attacks and then rushing back to help out his fellow defenders.
Bring on Eden Hazard, and Bellerin will probably face his first real test when he comes head-to-head with the Belgian. The Chelsea star is suffering a dip in form at the moment, but he is a world-class player, and one feels it is only a matter of when, rather than if he returns to his usual best.
Francis Coquelin vs Cesc Fabregas
With first-choice attacking midfielders Willian and Pedro missing, the onus is on another under-achieving midfielder in Cesc Fabregas to provide the goods behind the striker’s position. But standing in his way: Francis Coquelin. The French shielding-midfielder has hardly put a foot wrong this season, making last-ditch tackles to prevent the opposition from creating a good goal-scoring chance, and also setting up attacks with his crisp passing.
Cesc Fabregas has so far been a shadow of his last season heroics, where he bagged the most number of assists, and he will replicate that form to be one step ahead of the Frenchman through the course of the 90 minutes.
Prediction
Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal
Though Arsenal have been the better performing team by a fair margin this season, I am expecting Chelsea to identify this game where they respond to a torrid opening 5 games of the season. Mourinho took some very tough decisions in their victorious Champions League tie, and with the morale of those players high, I am expecting him to retain most of those players for this game as well.
This game comes just 60 hours after Chelsea and Arsenal’s Champions League games, and Arsenal’s travelling duties to and from Croatia, coupled with their usual failure to convert their abundant chances into goals will probably affect their chances of getting a result on Saturday.
Betting Odds (bet365)
Chelsea: 7/5
Arsenal: 21/10
Draw: 5/2
