Mikel Arteta will need his defence at its very best against Chelsea on Sunday.
Chelsea is not the most consistent team at the moment but they showed against Tottenham that they are more than capable of beating most teams when they are in the mood.
There are multiple potential scorers for Chelsea and the Arsenal back four will be tested thoroughly, however, there is good reason to be optimistic that Arteta will get a big performance from the under-fire defenders.
There was significant improvement against Bournemouth and that gives them a good foundation to build on.
Bukayo Saka will probably start on the left once again, there is no real alternative right now with both Sead Kolasinac and Kieran Tierney injured.
Sokratis will not feature following his head injury in the game against the Cherries and Calum Chambers is almost certain to be drafted in as his replacement.
I suspect David Luiz will keep his place, let’s hope his performance does not drop against his former club.
The right side is more difficult to assess because Hector Bellerin should be fit to play but Arteta may well stick with Ainsley Maitland-Niles for now. Personally, I think he will bring Bellerin back in.
So, this is the back four I reckon Arteta will go with.
Saka
Chambers
Luiz
Bellerin
Right now the defence is more or less picking itself due to an ongoing combination of injuries and the odd suspension. If there was ever a chance for these defenders to nail down a place long term, it is now.