Pre-Match Report

Preview: Arsenal v Chelsea

Arsenal v Chelsea

We aim to get back to winning ways when Chelsea head to N5 for our final London derby of the season on Tuesday night.

We could return to the top of the table following Manchester City’s victory over Fulham on Sunday, with our nearest rivals for the title back in action on Wednesday when they host West Ham United. 

The Blues meanwhile have only pride to play for after enduring a miserable season, with Frank Lampard bidding to end a run of five successive defeats since he was installed as Graham Potter’s replacement on a temporary basis last month - Chelsea's worst losing run since 1993.

Nightmare return for Lampard

Frank Lampard

Todd Boehly’s first full season in charge at Stamford Bridge has been a remarkable one, that saw Thomas Tuchel sacked in September following defeats to Leeds United, Southampton and Dinamo Zagreb during their opening seven games.

Graham Potter was swiftly installed and his reign started promisingly with three straight league wins as well as securing qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League, but he would taste victory just four times in his next 19 Premier League games and was subsequently sacked by Boelhy at the start of last month.

Lampard was then placed in caretaker charge for the remainder of the season, but has lost all five of his matches so far - the club’s worst losing run since 1993. That means Chelsea have lost 11 of their 26 Premier League matches since Tuchel’s dismissal, as many as they lost in their 63 games under the German.

What the managers say

Mikel Arteta claps the supporters at Emirates Stadium

Arteta on Chelsea: "I don’t know what their approach will be. They are really dangerous because when you look at the individuals that they can put on that field, for sure they have huge threats so we need to be aware of that.

“They are going to try to come to the Emirates to beat us. They have a great manager and exceptional players, so it is very difficult to predict what they will do because they can play in various ways with different players and different qualities as well. We are going to prepare for the game to win it, that’s it.

"It is a London derby and they have something to prove, and we have something to prove. The atmosphere is going to be incredible to play in that stadium and we are going to have to be at our best again.” - read everything Mikel said at his pre-match press conference

Lampard: "It could be either way [whether a good time to play us or not] depending on how you look at things. They’re still very much in the hunt to win the Premier League, they’re a fantastic team who have had a great season. If they’re wounded slightly, then that could give a big reaction but equally if we can make life difficult for them, then of course that could feel different.

"I think it's interesting to compare the Arsenal story with ours. We all had a little insight into Arsenal and how they operate through the Amazon series and I think what you see is that there's a long process to get to where you want to. Do we have the possibility to do that here at Chelsea? Yes. Will it take time and through good decisions along the way? Absolutely yes."

Team news

William Saliba

William Saliba continues to be out of contention with his back issue, while Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny are our other current casualties with knee injuries.

Kai Havertz could return to action after missing the defeats to Brighton and Brentford with a knee injury, which is a welcome boost for Lampard who is without a number of other players.

Reece James (hamstring) and Mason Mount (pelvis) are set to miss the rest of the season, while Marc Cucurella has sat out the past two games with a thigh injury and doesn't look ready to return.

His fellow defender Kalidou Koulibaly is still recovering from a hamstring issue, while Armando Broja has been out of action since December with a knee injury. 

Talking tactics

Enzo Fernandez

Michael Cox, writing in the official matchday programme: Since returning, Lampard has used both a back three and a back four. Their best defender has been Thiago Silva, still a rock at 38, with Cesar Azpilicueta and Wesley Fofana as other options, while Ben Chilwell times his runs excellently down the left.

World Cup-winner Enzo Fernandez will anchor the midfield and play good passes into attack, while N’Golo Kante played an interesting position in the recent defeat to Real Madrid, often drifting out over to the right flank. Mateo Kovacic is excellent at protecting and carrying the ball, and Conor Gallagher has been one of the brightest players under Lampard, offering energy and determination.

In the final third, Chelsea have failed to find a cohesive combination. Kai Havertz looks very dangerous alongside Joao Felix, who collects the ball in clever positions between the lines, although the combination lacks running in behind. However, that can come from Raheem Sterling or former Gunner Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. 

Other attackers include Christian Pulisic who is a good dribbler in tight spaces, left-winger Mykhailo Mudryk has an electric turn of speed, and Hakim Ziyech’s left-footed right-wing crosses can be impossible to defend. This really is a very talented squad in terms of individuals, but a complete lack of cohesion is the reason why Chelsea are midtable. 

Facts and stats

Leandro Trossard celebrates scoring for Brighton

We have won four of our last five Premier League games against Chelsea, as many as we had in our previous 23 against the Blues.

We are looking to win three consecutive league games against Chelsea for the first time since February 2004. Indeed, we could achieve our second league double in three seasons against the Blues, having done so just once in the previous 20 campaigns.

Only Southampton have kept fewer home clean sheets than us (3) in the Premier League. However, we have only failed to score in one of our 16 at the Emirates so far this term.

The Blues have lost 19 games in total this season, last losing 20 in a single campaign in 1987/88.

Leandro Trossard scored against Chelsea in Brighton's 4-1 win in October this season. Only two players have ever scored against the Blues with two different clubs in the same Premier League campaign – Gary Speed in 1997/98 (Everton and Newcastle) and Dean Windass in 2000/01 (Bradford and Middlesbrough).

Bukayo Saka has been directly involved in 16 goals in 16 Premier League home games (9 goals, 7 assists).

Match officials

Robert Jones

Robert Jones takes charge of us for the third time this campaign, having overseen our win against Aston Villa in August as well as the 1-1 draw at Southampton in October. The only other game of ours he refereed was last season’s League Cup win against Sunderland.

He took charge of Chelsea’s 2-1 home defeat to Brighton on April 15, the third-straight game they’d lost under his watch. No-one has awarded more penalties in the Premier League this season than Jones’ nine from 22 games, however he is yet to show a red card despite dishing out 92 bookings.

  • Referee: Robert Jones
  • Assistant Referee 1: Timothy Wood
  • Assistant Referee 2: Wade Smith
  • Fourth Official: Graham Scott
  • VAR: Andre Marriner
  • Assistant VAR: Stuart Burt

Recent visits from Chelsea

We haven’t faced the Blues on our own patch since August 2021 when the Blues won this fixture 2-0 last season, but only once in Premier League history have they won consecutive away games against us, which came back in 2009.

The season before saw us claim a 3-1 success thanks to goals from Alexandre Lacazette, Granit Xhaka and Bukayo Saka on Boxing Day, helping to avenge a 2-1 loss almost exactly 12 months earlier when Jorginho cancelled out Aubameyang’s opener before a late Tammy Abraham strike saw the visitors claim the points.

That was Mikel Arteta's first-ever defeat as our manager, but since then he's won five of his seven meetings with the Blues in all competitions.

Relive six classic matches against the Blues, including a 4-1 thumping in 1990, a 3-2 New Year’s Day thriller and a first-half masterclass in 2016.

Breakdown Live

Breakdown Live

Tune in an hour before kick-off when Nick Bright and Adrian Clarke will be joined at Emirates Stadium by YouTuber Sharky, Indian actor Dhruv Sehgal and Kiss FM’s Alex Mansuroglu.

 

Adrian will look back at the game against Manchester City to see what went wrong, and then break down exactly how we can beat Chelsea on the night.

 

Then they’ll hand over to Dan Roebuck and Jeremie Aliadiere on commentary, who will describe all the on-pitch goings-on throughout the 90 minutes. 

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