Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge for a crunch London derby with Chelsea at 12pm on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners can go back top of the Premier League with a win after Manchester City's last-gasp 2-1 victory against Fulham saw them leapfrog Mikel Arteta’s side on Saturday. Arsenal have a good recent record at Stamford Bridge: they are unbeaten on their last three visits and have won the last two.
They come into the match with confidence high after they topped their Europa League group with a narrow 1-0 win over FC Zurich on Thursday. Arteta attempted to rest many of his first-team regulars for that match, but the nervy nature of the second half meant many of those players were required off the bench.
While Thursday’s game was a positive experience on the whole, there was one major negative. Takehiro Tomiyasu came on as a second half substitute but had to be replaced just 15 minutes later after hobbling off with an injury. The Japanese defender did not train on Saturday and will be absent against Chelsea.
Kieran Tierney played the full 90 minutes against Zurich and was the star of the show, scoring the game’s only goal. That game and Tomiyasu’s injury means he could well be in line for a fourth Premier League start of the season, with Oleksandr Zinchenko only back on the bench following injury in midweek.
The rest of the defence picks itself, with Ben White, William Saliba – fresh after a rest against Zurich – and Gabriel Magalhaes the first-choice selections for Arteta.
There will be a similar situation in midfield, where Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey are fit and ready to go again. Xhaka missed the Zurich game through suspension after getting three yellow cards in the Europa League, so will be well rested.
Partey came off the bench against Zurich and is sure to reclaim his place after Albert Sambi Lokonga and Mohamed Elneny were given a go. Martin Odegaard will captain the side after Fabio Vieira didn’t take his chance against Zurich, while the front line is settled too.
Bukayo Saka is fit and trained this week after an injury scare and will line up alongside Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli, who was also rested in midweek.
Jesus has now gone eight games without scoring, but Arteta has backed his summer signing, insisting that he is happy with his all-round game. The Brazilian isn’t really under any pressure from Eddie Nketiah, who also failed to score against Zurich.
"They’ve been really consistent," Arteta said about Chelsea after Thursday's win over Zurich. "The results that they’ve had recently since Graham [Potter] took over you can see what he’s trying to do and we will be ready and will start to prepare for the game from tonight."
Likely Arsenal XI vs Chelsea: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Jesus
