Arsenal play host to Chelsea tonight in what is looking a scary encounter, with our players seemingly dropping like flies of late.
We come into the match without three of our better players so far this season, with Aaron Ramsey, Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac all ruled out, as well as Olivier Giroud missing, and Laurent Koscielny and Mesut Ozil set for late fitness tests.
The defender is supposedly only a 30% chance to start the match-up, with the German much more likely to be in the starting line-up, while our rivals have a near-full strength squad to choose from.
We also come into the match with dreadful form, having won only two of our last seven Premier League matches, and will be hoping the excitement of the big occasion paired with the derby emotions can bring the best out of our side.
The Blues haven’t been winning games in spectacular fashion, but have been winning the majority of their matches of late, and they will be hoping for a better performance this week than in recent weeks also.
Predicted XI:
Cech
Bellerin Chambers Mustafi Maitland-Niles
Iwobi Xhaka Wilshere
Ozil Lacazette Alexis
I think this line-up has more than enough going forward to cause the West London mob problems at the back, but have reservations about our defence coping with the pace and guile our opponents possess.
Chelsea rested Eden Hazard at the weekend with this match likely in mind, and he will be our opponents biggest threat going forward, along with record signing Alvaro Morata up front. Should we be able to stop the Belgian from splitting our defence we may well be able to come away with all three points today, but I’m struggling to be confident of our chances today.
I’m going for a 2-2 draw today, with Ozil teeing up Lacazette for the opening goal, but am hoping we can snatch the winner and keep us well within a shout of the top four spots.
What are your predictions for today’s crunch derby match?
Pat J