Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has the perfect opportunity to extract a measure of revenge against Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta when Chelsea visit the Gunners in the Premier League on Tuesday night.
The Gunners boss decided that his former captain had no future at the club following a string of disciplinary issues. After initially being offloaded to Barcelona, Aubameyang returned to the Premier League back in the summer after agreeing a surprise switch to Stamford Bridge.
And although the 33-year-old's stint in west London hasn't exactly gone to plan, he'll need no motivation to down his former teammates at the Emirates after being named in Frank Lampard's starting XI.
Ironically, Aubameyang's last league start for the Blues came all the way back in November during the reverse fixture against Arsenal. And after the Gunners ran out 1-0 winners, Aubameyang's ex-teammate Gabriel Magalhaes was quick to rub salt in the striker's wounds.
Aubameyang had, somewhat, fanned the flames ahead of the Stamford Bridge showdown by posting on social media: “Arsenal, it's nothing personal... I'm back, I'm Blue, I'm ready - let's go”. But after inflicting defeat on his former skipper, Gabriel responded with a light-hearted tweet of his own: “NOTHING PERSONAL .. LONDON IS RED”.
However, Aubameyang could have the last laugh in midweek if Chelsea can clinch a statement win at the Emirates and dent his old team's title hopes.
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The Gunners have looked shaky at the back in recent weeks without Gabriel's regular centre-back partner William Saliba, who is sidelined with a back injury - and that could open the door for Aubameyang, who will be eager to impress after being brought back in from the cold by Lampard, who is set to remain in charge until the end of the season.
Tuesday night's match will see Aubameyang return to the Emirates Stadium for the first time as a player since his lucrative Arsenal contract was torn up back in January 2022. The two parties agreed on a pay-off just weeks after Aubameyang was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy and frozen out of the team by Arteta.
Despite the fact that he made the decision to cull his former captain, Arteta pleaded with the Arsenal faithful to give the striker a good reception ahead of the match. He said of Aubameyang's return: “Let's say thank you, pay respect and gratitude for what he was. He was an incredible player for us, scored a lot of goals, he was our captain, and he deserves that.”
While Lampard will go in search of his first win since returning to the Chelsea dugout, Arsenal need to muster up a response to keep their title dream alive after dropping points in four successive matches.
