Chelsea will be looking to pile on the misery at Arsenal when the two sides square up at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners were comprehensively bested by Brentford in their season opener, and the boss is well aware that a positive response needs to come immediately.
Unfortunately, that response needs to come against European champions Chelsea, who picked Crystal Palace apart to the tune of a 3-0 victory last time out.
Here’s everything you need to know about the game.
When is kick off? Sunday 22 August, 16:30 (BST)
Where is the match being played? Emirates Stadium
What TV channel is it on? Sky Sports Main Event (UK), fuboTV(US)
Who’s the referee? Paul Tierney
Who’s the VAR? Chris Kavanagh
Arsenal are hopeful of getting deals for both Martin Odegaard and Aaron Ramsdale over the line in the near future, but even if they get done soon, this game will come far too early for either to play any part.
They’ll have to watch on from the sidelines, where they are expected to be joined by ill duo Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette and injured trio Gabriel, Thomas Partey and Eddie Nketiah.
TT, Thiago and Rom. ? pic.twitter.com/LQpRczEL0H
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 19, 2021
Romelu Lukaku has already confirmed that he plans on making his debut against Arsenal, and at this point, that’s all Chelsea fans really care about.
To keep the positivity going, Thomas Tuchel is expecting to welcome midfielder N’Golo Kante back from the injury picked up in the Super Cup final, but Hakim Ziyech remains sidelined with the shoulder injury picked up in the same game.
There are also doubts about winger Christian Pulisic, who did not attend the open training session at the Bridge and was not pictured in training on Thursday, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek is still dealing with COVID-19.
Arsenal: Leno; Chambers, White, Mari, Tierney; Lokonga, Xhaka; Pepe, Smith Rowe, Saka; Martinelli.
Chelsea: Mendy; Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kante, Alonso; Mount, Havertz; Lukaku.
???????ising ?@emilesmithrowe | #CHEARS pic.twitter.com/cs9Y2tcCdQ
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 13, 2021
Arsenal have actually had the bragging rights in this fixture recently. They have won each of the last three meetings between the two teams, including a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge back in May.
The Blues haven’t beaten Arsenal since December 2019, when they rocked up at the Emirates and snatched a 2-1 win thanks to late goals from Jorginho and new Roma signing Tammy Abraham.
Chelsea haven’t lost four straight games to Arsenal since 2004, when Claudio Ranieri was still in charge and Roman Abramovich was still in the early pages of his cheque book.
It’s no secret that Chelsea are the favourites for this one. They might not have the best recent record against Arsenal, but at the minute, the moods around each club could hardly be more different.
Arsenal are still picking themselves up after being emphatically mauled by Brentford, and if Ivan Toney could give them that many problems, just imagine what Lukaku could do to their shaky backline.
Add in the fact that Arsenal are likely to be without their three most-senior striker, and you’ll see why Chelsea will be confident of winning this one.
Prediction: Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea