After recent encounters with Liverpool, Newcastle United, and Manchester United, the Blues are gearing up for another significant test against a Gunners team determined to bounce back after a Champions League defeat to Inter Milan. ..Continue Reading
Ian Wright has predicted a 2-1 victory for Arsenal, emphasizing that Mikel Arteta’s side is in urgent need of a win after a difficult spell.
Heading into the weekend, Arsenal holds the fifth spot in the league standings and could find themselves ten points behind leaders Liverpool by the time the match begins at Stamford Bridge.
After failing to secure wins in their last three league matches, Arsenal is eager to regain form with a strong performance in west London. However, they’ll face a revitalized Chelsea under new manager Enzo Maresca.
The visitors may gain an advantage with the potential return of their captain Martin Odegaard, who appeared as a late substitute in their loss to Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Arteta will likely have to cope without defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu for the derby, while England midfielder Declan Rice remains uncertain to play due to a broken toe that kept him out of the Milan game.
‘We need to win, we need to win. We’re not scoring at the minute.’ ex-Arsenal striker Wright said while previewing the game on the latest episode of The Overlap.
‘We’re normally pretty good at Chelsea. We normally do well but this Chelsea team has got a different swagger. I’m going to go 2-1 to Arsenal.’
Former Manchester United player Gary Neville, meanwhile, believes the points will be shared in a closely contested 1-1 draw.
‘I’m doing that game, I can’t have a draw again! Probably will be a draw though, won’t it?’ Neville said. ‘I think 1-1, we’ll go with 1-1.’
Facing the media after Arsenal’s defeat to Inter Milan, Arteta insisted his team were more than capable of beating Chelsea if they replicated the same performance at Stamford Bridge.
‘If we play the way we played against Inter then we have a big chance to win against Chelsea,’ the Arsenal head coach told reporters at his post-match press conference.
‘That’s the way we have to go. I told them that I’m proud of them, I haven’t seen them play in Europe in the manner that we played today.
‘We are very disappointed because we didn’t get what we wanted out of the game, that’s for sure.’
