Mikel Arteta's Arsenal can further establish themselves as Premier League title contenders with a statement victory in their London derby against Chelsea this weekend. The Gunners have already faced three other 'big six' teams so far this campaign beating Liverpool and Spurs but losing to Manchester United.
All of the blemishes on Arsenal's record this season have come away from Emirates Stadium, with the Gunners on a ten-game winning streak on their own patch after Thursday night's Europa League win over Zurich saw them cement top spot in their group and thus earn a straight passage to the competition's round of 16.
While the game was a positive on the whole, Arteta may have lost an important part of his defence as Takehiro Tomiyasu, who replaced Ben White in the second half, had to come with two minutes of normal time remaining with a suspected hamstring injury.
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Speaking to BT Sport the Spaniard said: "We don’t know. He has had a muscular issue and had to come off because we don’t want to take any risks. But we will assess him in the next 48 hours and decide what is best to do next."
Fortunately, Arsenal do have a ready-made replacement at left back, the position where Tomiyasu has been deployed for the last four league games, in Kieran Tierney who featured for the full 90 minutes grabbing the winning goal and helping Arteta's side achieve their ninth clean sheet of the season.
Other than the likely-forced change Arsenal may have to make in defence, Arteta is not expected to tinker with his team selection for the Chelsea game having named the exact same line-up four Premier League games in a row.
The Gunners have built up strong relationships all over the pitch and it would be extremely difficult for any squad player to win a consistent starting place the way Arteta's first XI are performing and with anticipation building for their London derby against Chelsea on Sunday, debates are starting to arise of who would featured in a combined XI.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Jamie O'Hara revealed he thinks only one player from the Blues setup would get into the Arsenal team, that being Thiago Silva in place of Gabriel Magalhaes. Though he also said that Reece James would feature if fit.
The former Spurs midfielder made his decisions relatively easily despite some minor hesitation between Mason Mount and Gabriel Martinelli.
"You can’t say Havertz because for me [Gabriel] Jesus is way better," O’Hara explained on The Sports Bar.
"Out of Mason Mount and Gabriel Martinelli, at the moment I’m taking Martinelli. Bukayo Saka over Raheem Sterling. Martin Odegaard, who gets in ahead of him? He’s fantastic.
"Cesar Azpilicueta has been a fantastic player over the years but I think Ben White is ahead of him right now.
"I look at Arsenal’s team and it’s a better side. Arsenal have got to take great confidence going into the weekend."
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