Arsenal vs Chelsea preview, team news, probable line-ups: Can Gunners revive title hopes with derby win?

PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal vs Chelsea preview, team news, probable line-ups: Can Gunners revive title hopes with derby win?

Kiplagat Sang 13:20 - 02.05.2023

Gunners can beat the Blues in three consecutive league games for the first time since 2003 to 2004.

For the first time after leading in the Premier League race for 247 days, Arsenal go into action knowing that they are not at the top.

They host Chelsea in the London Derby on Tuesday night, and a win will help them reignite their title ambitions. The Blues are also in need of a win, as they dropped to 12th place after weekend matches even though they were not in action.

After dropping points against Liverpool, West Ham United, Southampton, and Manchester City, a win will go a long way in boosting the morale of the Arsenal squad, which was confident after topping the table for a considerable time.

Following a poor run, Chelsea were again forced to make a managerial change, and even with that, the tide has not changed in their favour. Frank Lampard is yet to win a single game – he has overseen five, including the Champions League quarter-final ties against Real Madrid – since he took over as interim boss.

Team News

Arsenal again go into another crucial match without William Saliba, who has been sidelined since getting injured during a match against Sporting Lisbon in March.

Meaning, Rob Holding, who has had a tough time deputising the French center-back, is set to be lined up again.

Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny are long-term injury absentees and are not going to be featured at all.

Chelsea also have their own injury concerns to deal with, as Reece James and Mason Mount are not expected to feature again this term, while Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella are out for this trip to North London.

What are the stats saying?

Arsenal are enduring a four-match winless league run (D3, L1). Their only longer top-flight streak without a victory under Mikel Arteta spanned seven games from November to December 2020.

Arsenal have scored in 31 of their 33 Premier League games this season. They have kept only five clean sheets in their last 26 home games in the league.

Lampard is winless in 15 competitive fixtures, losing the last nine, since Everton's 3-0 Premier League home victory against Crystal Palace in October.

It's 13 defeats in 32 league matches for the Blues this season. They have only once lost more in a 20-team Premier League campaign, with 15 defeats in 1997–98.

Predicted line-ups:

Arsenal: Ramsdale; Ben White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Odegaard, Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Trossard, Martinelli.

Chelsea: Kepa; Chalobah, Fofana, Silva, Chilwell, Kante, Fernandez Kovacic, Sterling, Aubameyang, Mudryk.