Analysing the Chelsea v Arsenal game at Stamford Bridge

Aerial Views Of Central London
Stamford Bridge

TEAM NEWS:

CHELSEA:

Chelsea do not have any major injuries. Maurizio Sarri is expected to have his full squad available.

*Cesc Fabregas has been ruled out due minor ailment

*His other worries are only about the fitness of new signing Mateo Kovacic and Eden Hazard who made a cameo appearance against Huddersfield.

ARSENAL:

Arsenal will be without a number of players.

*Laurent Koscielny, Sead Kolasinac, Ainsley Maitland-Niles are out

*Danny Welbeck continues to work his way back to full fitness

Arsenal will make a short trip to west London where Chelsea play host to the Gunners in the Premier League's biggest game of the weekend on Saturday. Unai Emery couldn't have had a tougher start after his side pitted wits with Pep Guardiola's City troops last Sunday.

The Gunners went down 2-0 in that game and the Spaniard will be hoping for a better result this time around.

The game against Man City told us a lot about Arsenal's progress since Arsenal announced Unai Emery as the new coach to replace the departed Arsene Wenger. Arsenal tried to implement their new style but fell short and ended up dropping all three points.

Unai Emery must have properly analyzed that game so that come Saturday, his men would have cut out the mistakes that made them ruthlessly exposed for a better showing against Chelsea. In that game, Mateo Guendouzi and Hector Bellerin were easily brushed aside by Raheem Sterling before the Englishman released a ferocious shot past Petr Cech.

Arsenal FC v Manchester City - Premier League
Bellerin (L) AND Guendouzi (R) were easily beaten by Sterling to score City's first

This time though, Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira is expected to make his full debut. The pint-sized midfielder has been heralded as the second most tactically aware player in Europe, next only to Barcelona's Sergio Busquets.

He will be expected to offer much better protection of his defense with his tenacity, interceptions, ball recoveries and superb game-reading ability. The absence of such a player gave City the freedom on the ball without anyone harrying them down and snapping at their ankles in the hunt for possession.

Mateo Guendouzi's spirit and self belief in the game against the champions was quite admirable, but believe it or not, it was too much of a gamble to throw him in. He was culpable for City's opening goal and almost led to another when he failed to deal with a long ball that sent Kun Aguero through on goal.

He didn't look fazed though, unlike his midfield partner, Granit Xhaka and on the basis of the Swiss' performance, I expect him to drop out of the starting XI.

Aaron Ramsey was deployed way too forward, in a role behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He made a few late runs into the box but with little impact. He looked a little lost up there; and because Arsenal will need to have more numbers in the middle, we could see Ramsey drop a little deeper to flank Lucas Torreira along with Mateo Guendouzi in a midfield three.

Playing Ramsey behind the striker meant that Mesut Ozil had to occupy the left wing, where his impact was more anonymous than influential. He couldn't track back to help his full back. This made life extremely comfortable for Kyle Walker who caused loads of trouble for Arsenal down the left.

Arsenal FC v Manchester City - Premier League
Walker (R) had a great day at Arsenal

I expect Aubameyang to play there against Chelsea in order to accommodate Alexandre Lacazette who looked impressive playing through the middle, linking up beautifully with the Gabonese who had been switched to the left. This means the German will have to play off the right, where he will cut in to his stronger left foot to create or even shoot at the Chelsea goal.

Unai Emery has already confirmed that Petr Cech will be between the posts for the second game in a row. The Czech looked fairly uncomfortable passing the ball to his defenders rather than his usual way of hoofing it upfront. He made a few smart saves that must have convinced his boss to retain him.

Chelsea must have keenly watched though and will look to exploit his weaknesses to cause Arsenal serious problems. The back four will remain largely unchanged with Nacho Monreal the only change at left back after gaining full fitness

The two teams met during pre-season in Dublin and Chelsea looked impressive especially in the first half. They exploited Arsenal's apparent lack of pace in their high line defense to gravely trouble them.

Youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi was the man to lead the onslaught, winning a penalty that Morata missed. With Eden Hazard back though, Maurizio Sarri will look to repeat the same trick, this time with a much stronger gun. Pedro has looked very sharp and is expected to start on the right with the out-of-form Alvaro Morata leading the line.

Huddersfield Town v Chelsea FC - Premier League
Huddersfield Town v Chelsea FC - Premier League

In the middle, French World Cup winning midfield dynamo Ngolo Kante is back to business. He linked up impressively with Jorginho and that is expected to continue. Englishman Ross Barkley didn't look imperious and will more likely drop out for either Mateo Kovacic.

At the back, David Luiz has looked reborn after being exiled by Antonio Conte. He will definitely continue partnering Antonio Ruediger at the heart of defense while Caeser Azpilicueta will continue at right back with Alonso on the left.

Kepa Arrizabalaga, Chelsea's new goalkeeper and holder of the world record for the most expensive custodian in the game, will keep goal again after keeping a clean sheet against Huddersfield.

Like Unai Emery, Maurizio Sarri plays a high energy pressing game in a 4-3-3 formation. The game promises to be a fascinating affair, with Chelsea utilizing their home advantage to take the game to the visitors.

The two teams have had massive changes over the summer with new managers and a number of new players as well as new philosophies. Players from either camp are still coming to terms with changes and will take time to master their managers' ideas.

But given the recent performances of Arsenal away from home and at the Bridge in particular, Chelsea have an edge in this one.

Quick Links

Edited by Abhinav Munshi