Arsenal and Chelsea meet in north London on Sunday in a mouthwatering derby early in the Premier League season.
Old friends Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso will lock horns in charge of London rivals for the first time.
Arteta’s reigning champions have started the season really well, bagging two wins from two and they’ve yet to concede a goal. It was all business for the Gunners in their 1-0 win at Aston Villa on Monday. Their squad is stacked and this will be a great test to see exactly where they are at.
Chelsea also have two wins from two to start and it is clear they will be the great entertainers under new manager Xabi Alonso. Chelsea’s wild 4-3 win at home against Brighton underlined how good they are in attack but also showcased the defensive issues they’re having. Seven goals scored but five goals conceded so far says it all.
How to watch Arsenal vs Chelsea live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 11:30am ET Sunday (September 6)
Venue: Emirates Stadium — North London
TV Channel: USA
Stream link: Watch on USA
Arsenal team news
Sky Sports in the UK state that Cristhian Mosquera and Bruno Guimaraes were not training on Thursday ahead of this game. The former came off during the win against Villa with new signing Ezri Konsa on in his place. The latter is having his training load managed as he continues to work through a small issue. Aside from that Arsenal’s team looks very settled but Jurrien Timber and William Saliba remain out injured. In terms of options in attack, some Arsenal fans were frustrated they didn’t add another left winger with Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli agreeing deals to leave. But Arteta still has so many incredible attacking options with Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Max Dowman and Viktor Gyokeres barely featuring so far.
Chelsea team news
Chelsea’s front three of Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers are a joy to watch and when it clicks the Blues look pretty unstoppable. But defensively there have been huge mistakes, and gaps, in their opening two games of the season as the new system is worked on. New goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez will help improve that (and he can expect a nice welcome on his return to Arsenal), while getting the balance right in midfield if Moises Caicedo is injured will be a struggle. Alonso would have loved to have signed Lamine Camara late in the window to replace Enzo Fernandez but it wasn’t to be.
Arsenal vs Chelsea prediction
This feels like it’s going to be a lot of fun and if Chelsea score early it’s going to be a beauty of a game for neutrals. Expect Arsenal to get it done. Arsenal 3-2 Chelsea.
