Arsenal could field a strong team at Stamford Bridge. Martin Odegaard is back in contention, and Declan Rice is also expected to start.
Arsenal head to Stamford Bridge to continue their impressive recent record against Chelsea. The Gunners have won four of their last five visits here, and the only time they could not win was last season in a pulsating 2-2 draw. Ahead of this London derby, the away side are not in their best of forms as Mikel Arteta seeks a confidence-boosting result.
Arteta’s pre-match press conference was centred around the injury updates on many of his players. Reporters were particularly curious whether Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice would start on Sunday. The former made his comeback against Inter Milan in the final minutes of the game, while the latter was absent for the visit to Milan with a toe injury.
When asked whether Rice would start on Sunday, Arteta could not clarify the situation. Reports have suggested he has a toe fracture, although there are instances where players play with such issues unless it is the main toe in the foot. Arteta said, “I have to be very vague on that one because there’s no clarity on whether he’s going to be fit for the weekend.
When pressed about whether Odegaard would start against Chelsea, Arteta said, “Everybody that is in the squad is going to be fit and available to start the game, so then it will be a decision whether it is too early or the right moment for him to make that step again.”
Meanwhile, two more problems were incurred against Inter Milan. Mikel Merino was substituted at halftime, and there were suggestions that the Yann Sommer punch was the reason for his withdrawal. Kai Havertz suffered a nasty cut to the head in the dying minutes of the second half. Both players will be assessed before the Chelsea encounter.
Arteta said, “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see how they react. Kai had quite a nasty cut and he could not continue. With Mikel, to be fair the day before he wasn’t feeling great and we decided to sub him at half-time.”
The back four is expected to stay the same in terms of team selection, with Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Jurrien Timber all expected to keep their places. Riccardo Calafiori, Kieran Tierney, and Takehiro Tomiyasu have injury concerns, and the trio is set to remain sidelined, at least until after the international break.
Arteta will probably include Odegaard, considering the skipper would have had the whole week to build up fitness. The in-form Thomas Partey and Rice will complete the midfield setup, as the Gunners boss hopes to resume normalcy in the team’s appearance.
Havertz is also expected to start and lead the line for Arsenal against his former side. Bukayo Saka has had no recurrence of the recent hamstring problem, so he is a sure starter on that right side. Gabriel Martinelli is likely to feature on the left, as Leandro Trossard will drop to the bench after yet another abject performance for Arsenal.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
