A traditional clash in London, Chelsea welcomes Arsenal to the Bridge! The Blues have gone about their business flying under the radar but keeping up with the frontrunners, Arsenal meanwhile have had a few bumps in the road but are always going to be relevant to those top spots in the League.
This should have all the makings of an absolute humdinger!
To Win (90 mins)
Chelsea 18/10
Draw 43/20
Arsenal 29/20
Chelsea
Admittedly, I have been an admirer of Chelsea under Enzo Maresca. They have been brave, totally committed to their desired approach and all whilst remaining relatively underneath the proverbial radar.
I was quite surprised that the Italian manager rang as many changes as he did for their Carabao Cup game against Newcastle, but I assume that is not the focus this season. Nevertheless, the side that faced Newcastle the week before were rested ahead of their League trip to Old Trafford.
My concern was that they still looked a little jaded against United and were really open at times during the match. To be fair though, they did give away a handful of chances to Newcastle in the league and even Liverpool before that. Furthermore, the confidence and bravado that Chelsea have seemingly relied on at times disappeared at Anfield and again at Old Trafford.
In Arsenal, they will find a confident attack, a robust defence, and a budding confidence throughout the team. If the Blues want to claim all three points, they will need to put in a complete performance come Sunday evening.
Arsenal
Arsenal creates so many chances, but I worry about them in the final third of the pitch. Now I know that is a strange way to begin the paragraph unpacking this Arsenal team, but their wastefulness in front of goal really isn’t spoken about enough.
The reality is they got really lucky (on one hand) after losing to Newcastle, City lost to Bournemouth. On the other hand, the door is now somewhat open to Liverpool who have now claimed top spot in the League.
The media love Mikel Arteta’s side, the narrative that surrounds them is just simply uncanny in many respects. At the time of writing, they have replicated Erik ten Hag’s expected goals conceded rate, and yet the focus remains on how bolstered and robust their defensive setup is.
They have failed to dominate the ball on the level of those teams around them, but the narrative remains that Mikel Arteta’s approach is indistinguishable and absolutely committed to the retention of the football.
I think they might find this trip to Stamford Bridge difficult.
Prediction: Chelsea win/draw double chance + BTTS (7/5)
I think Chelsea can exploit the shortcomings of this Arsenal side, but given the space available to any Chelsea opponent, Arsenal will get onto the score sheet. It should be an absolutely exciting game to watch, but my gut says Chelsea come away with something.