Monday, 22 April 2024

April 22, 2024

Fresh from a do-or-die win at Wolves on Saturday, the Gunners can go four points clear at the top of the league if they beat Chelsea at the Emirates tonight. Mikel Arteta knows his side still has a great chance to lift the title if they take maximum points from the remaining five fixtures.

First up, there is a tough London derby to navigate. The Blues played well in the weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City but missed out due to wasteful finishing. 

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino needs to secure a European place to avoid any chance of being replaced come the end of the season. His side sits three points off sixth place, having played fewer games than all their rivals. 

Team news

Arsenal

Having played so well under difficult circumstances, seeing the same starting line-up as Saturday would not be surprising. The team looked well-balanced, especially down the left side, where Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz linked up effectively. Takehiro Tomiyasu is available after missing the last game with a knock.

Chelsea

Joint Premier League top goalscorer Cole Palmer is a major doubt after missing training with illness. Malo Gusto and Ben Chilwell will be assessed this morning. Robert Sanchez, Lesley Ugochukwu and Christopher Nkunku haven’t regained match fitness so they are unlikely to feature.

Predicted XI

Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Rice, Odegaard, Havertz, Saka, Jesus, Trossard

Match prediction

Arsenal 3.1 Chelsea

What are the managers saying?

Mikel Arteta

On the improvement in results against the traditional big teams:

“Obviously, the more you win against big teams, the more belief you have that you can do it consistently. We prepare every game to beat them, and tomorrow definitely, it will be the same, and we’ll have to prove on the pitch whether we are capable or not.”

Mauricio Pochettino

On the potential impact of Cole Palmer’s absence:

‘With or without Cole, we always believe we can win. The most important thing is the team and the collective. He is an important part of the team and is doing fantastic for us, but we are Chelsea and we have plenty of players that can perform and do the job.”

How to watch

The match is being shown live in the UK on TNT Sports 1. Kick-off is 20:00 GMT

The post Arsenal vs Chelsea Preview: Can Arsenal make it a Famous Five? appeared first on AFTV.

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