We head to Stamford Bridge on Sunday looking to win our third-straight game at the venue for the first time since 1974, but a lot has changed for our opponents since we took three points home across the capital in April.
The Blues have remained unbeaten on their own patch in their nine league games since, despite swapping Thomas Tuchel for Graham Potter who has never beaten a team more in the Premier League than the three times he got the better of us at Brighton & Hove Albion.
The game will also see us come up against Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the first time since he left north London in January, as we aim to stretch our unbeaten league run to seven games and mark Mikel Arteta's 150th Gunners game in charge appropriately.
Erratic start to Potter’s spell
The turbulence around Chelsea has continued into this term, with Todd Boehly’s first few months as Blues owner dominated by his decision to sack Tuchel following defeats to Leeds United, Southampton and Dinamo Zagreb during their opening seven games.
Potter’s reign started with three straight league wins as well as securing qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League, but recent weeks have seen their league form dip again.
Draws against Brentford and Manchester United were followed by a humbling 4-1 loss at the hands of his former employers Brighton, leaving Chelsea sixth in the table heading into this matchweek.
What the managers say
Potter: "It's a special game. It's an exciting game. We have to be ready to play the football that can get us a result.
"It's helpful in a way the extra 24 hours, we take what we can at this point of the season. We're all used to the quick turnaround, we're used to short space in between games, but any time you have you have to use it well."
Arteta on Chelsea: "They’ve been really consistent, the results that they’ve had recently since Graham took over you can see what he’s trying to do and we will be ready and will start to prepare for the game from tonight.
"You can see that he has put his ideas in, like he did with Brighton. We need to play better than them, earn the right to win, and score one more goal than them."
Team news
Takehiro Tomiyasu limped off after just 15 minutes of action in our midweek win over FC Zurich with an unspecified injury, and looks set to miss this one.
Matt Turner and Emile Smith Rowe are recovering from groin injuries, but Oleksandr Zinchenko was named on the bench on Thursday and could be in contention to start.
Potter was dealt a blow in midweek with Ben Chilwell picking up a hamstring injury in the latter stages of the win against Dinamo Zagreb, further depleting his wing-back options with Reece James also likely to miss out who has been undergoing treatment in Dubai alongside Wesley Fofana.
Kepa Arrizabalaga is out until the World Cup with a foot problem and Carney Chukwuemeka has a hamstring issue, but Matteo Kovacic is back in training after a calf problem.
Facts and stats
Chelsea have lost three of their last four Premier League games against us (W1), more than they had in their previous 17.
We have won our last four Premier League London derbies, last winning more consecutively between April and October 2013 (5). We’ve won both such away games without conceding so far this season – we’ve never won three in a row while keeping a clean sheet each time.
Chelsea last lost consecutive league games in December 2020 under Frank Lampard. However, at home the Blues are unbeaten in nine league games (W5 D4) since their 4-2 loss to us in April.
We have scored more goals in the opening 30 minutes of Premier League games this season than any other side (11), while we’re the only side yet to concede in this timeframe. We are also one of three sides yet to concede in the final 15 minutes of games.
Gabriel Jesus has had more touches in the opposition box than any other player in the Premier League this season (124). He's averaging 10.7 such touches per 90 minutes, with the leading player for us in this regard last term averaging just 7.7.
Aubameyang could become just the second player to score for both sides in this fixture in the Premier League (excluding own goals), after Cesc Fabregas.
This will be Mikel Arteta’s 150th game in charge, meaning he matches the number of games he played for the club. His 88 wins is higher than any other manager from their first 150 games.
Match officials
It is a quick return to Arsenal duties for Michael Oliver, who officiated our 3-2 win against Liverpool a month ago. We have won 21 of the previous 48 games he has overseen.
It is the fourth time he has been handed the reins of an Arsenal v Chelsea game and we have remained unbeaten in that time, with the last appointment coming in 2020/21 with a 3-1 win at the Emirates.
- Referee: Michael Oliver
- Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt
- Assistant Referee 2: Dan Cook
- Fourth Official: Robert Jones
- VAR: Jarred Gillett
- Additional VAR: Matthew Wilkes
Recent trips to the Bridge
Last season saw us run out 4-2 victors, with Eddie Nketiah opening the scoring before Timo Werner equalised, and further goals from Smith Rowe and Cesar Azpilicueta made it 2-2 at the break. However, Nketiah and a late Saka penalty secured victory.
That made it back-to-back wins at the Bridge, as in May 2021 Smith Rowe netted the only goal of the game to claim victory. The previous encounter saw Gabriel Martinelli score a wonderful solo goal back in January 2020 during a 2-2 draw, with Hector Bellerin netting a late equaliser in a game that saw former Blue David Luiz dismissed after just 26 minutes.
See all this action, plus classic goals from Kanu, Sylvinho and Winterburn, in our playlist
Breakdown Live
Tune in on Arsenal.com and the official app from 11am to Breakdown Live, brought to you live from Emirates Stadium.
Nick Bright and Adrian Clarke will look back, in detail, at our win over Nottingham Forest last time out in the league and analyse how Chelsea have been performing under new manager Graham Potter
They'll also be marking Mikel Arteta’s 150th game in charge of the Gunners by reflecting on his time in charge, before passing over to Dan Roebuck and Josh James for live commentary from Stamford Bridge.
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