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Arsenal are aiming to maintain their unbeaten Premier League run away to Chelsea but Mauricio Pochettino’s men will not be pushovers given their recent resurgence
While they still loiter around the middle of the Premier League standings, there were signs going into the international break that Chelsea were finally starting to find their feet under manager Mauricio Pochettino as they pieced together three successive competitive wins.
Preview
The most recent, a 4-1 success at Burnley, saw the Blues score over four goals for the first time in 71 outings across all competitions. It was also the first time they’d come from behind to win a Premier League away game since October 2022.
Chelsea might need more of that fighting spirit as they’ve often allowed London rivals Arsenal to get the upper hand in these contests, with the Gunners scoring first in five of the last six meetings.
Three of those matches ended in home defeats for Chelsea and a fourth here would make Arsenal the first side to secure four straight victories at Stamford Bridge since Watford achieved the feat in 1986.
The visitors look to have silenced any doubters who didn’t believe they could sustain another title challenge this season after making an impressive unbeaten start to the new campaign (won six, drawn two).
The standout result in that run was the 1-0 success over champions Manchester City before the international break, which was a win that gleeful manager Mikel Arteta branded as “special”.
Back on the road and with confidence sky high, Arsenal are chasing history here as they bid to add a fourth league away clean sheet to the three they’ve already accumulated so far this season.
The North London club have never opened a league campaign with four straight away clean sheets, although they went close to doing so in 1995-96, also achieving a streak of three, but a 1-0 defeat by none other than Chelsea stopped them in their tracks.
Team news
Chelsea’s injury crisis has seemingly only worsened over the international break. While Benoit Badiashile is edging closer to a return, Romeo Lavia, Trevoh Chalobah, and Carney Chukwuemeka have all suffered setbacks in their recoveries and will not be available this weekend.
There’s more positive news for the visitors, although doubts continue to linger surrounding Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, and Leandro Trossard. Saka and Thomas Partey, though, are expected to be fit for starts.
Predicted line-ups
Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Silva, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Gallagher; Sterling, Enzo, Mudryk; Jackson.
Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
When and where to watch
The match will kick off at 7.30pm Kenyan time and will be live on SuperSport TV.
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