Ezri Konsa will make his first appearance for Arsenal in a starting lineup when they host Chelsea at the Emirates on Sunday.
Arsenal will aim to continue the perfect start to the 2026/27 season when they welcome Chelsea to the Emirates on Sunday evening. Mikel Arteta has new injury concerns to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
The Spanish tactician has been concerned about the fitness of Cristhian Mosquera and Bruno Guimaraes after the duo sustained knocks against Aston Villa earlier this week. Additionally, William Saliba remains a long-term absentee due to his ongoing recovery from a back injury.
However, Jurrien Timber may be fit and available to feature in the matchday squad after stepping up his rehabilitation from a groin complaint. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Arteta provided fitness updates on Timber, Mosquera, and Guimaraes, among others.
The Arsenal manager said, “[Bruno] had a knock against Villa in the previous game and he’s being assessed. Hopefully [Saturday], he will be okay for training. For Cristhian, it was more precaution than anything else, so we’ll have to see in the session [Saturday] how he feels.”
“Ezri is certainly available in the squad, so we’ll see when we make our selection. Jurrien is in really good condition at the moment, he’s been a few weeks on the pitch and has been training with us, so he’s in a really good place. We will decide [on his involvement on Sunday] after training [on Saturday].”
“We don’t really know the amount of weeks Wilo is going to be out because it’s about a healing process and everything is a bit different – we know we have to respect certain timings. The progression has been really positive in the last few weeks, but we need to wait and see how that one reacts when we start to put some load into it.”
David Raya is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Arsenal lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him against Chelsea on Sunday. The backline will feature Ben White, Ezri Konsa, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Riccardo Calafiori.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly and skipper Martin Odegaard, with Martin Zubimendi missing out again. Finally, Kai Havertz will continue to lead the line for the home side, with Bukayo Saka and Christos Tzolis being the two wide attackers.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; Ben White, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Rice, Lewis-Skelly; Saka, Havertz, Tzolis
