Chelsea vs Arsenal LIVE: Premier League team news, line-ups and more as Aubameyang starts for Blues

11/06/2022

Can the Gunners win the title?

Arsenal have won 10 of their 12 top-flight matches this season.

Only one of the 10 previous teams to win as often at this stage of a Premier League campaign did not go on to the win the title – Newcastle in 1995/96.

Is this Arsenal’s year?

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s reunion with Mikel Arteta adds drama to pivotal London derby

“Arsenal, nothing personal,” said Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, in a message that quite beautifully made Sunday’s London derby all about the opposite. It was a pot that did not require stirring, but the line from Aubameyang playing in TV promotions this week has succeeded in stoking the flames among Arsenal fans ahead of the reunion with their former captain. “I’m back. I’m blue. I’m ready,” the Chelsea striker went on and, if you do take Aubameyang at his word that, for him, facing Arsenal isn’t personal, you can be assured his meeting with Mikel Arteta will be.

It can be hard to ignore the temptation to focus on the good, honest drama of a clash between a manager and an embittered former captain, even when Arsenal’s trip to Chelsea is also so much more. “There’s a narrative around him, I understand,” the Chelsea manager Graham Potter admitted. Resurfaced in the All or Nothing Amazon documentary, developed further in the emergence of leaked videos and fresh criticism, which in turn was met by thinly veiled digs, the fallout from the collapse of Aubameyang and Arteta’s relationship has so far been compelling ahead of its next chapter.

The fact that so much has changed since it began adds to the intrigue. As Aubameyang signed for Chelsea on deadline day and declared he had “unfinished business” in the Premier League, the idea of putting the brakes on Arsenal’s title challenge just as it was beginning to gather momentum was presumably not at the top of his mind. When he had left months earlier, he departed a side who were sixth in the table, which was their average position across his four years at the club. Yet as November rolls around, Aubameyang’s first encounter with his former side will be a test against the closest contenders for Manchester City’s crown.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s reunion with Mikel Arteta adds drama to pivotal derby

The former Arsenal captain faces the Gunners for the first time since joining Chelsea, as Arteta’s side look for a statement win at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea vs Arsenal team changes

Graham Potter makes three changes from the team that started the 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League. Thiago Silva, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Marc Cucurella come in for Kalidou Koulibaly, Denis Zakaria and Ben Chilwell.

Arsenal make seven changes from the side that beat FC Zurich 1-0 on Thursday to clinch top spot in their Europa League group.

Only Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel, Ben White and Gabriel Jesus stay in the side, with Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli the main players to come back in.

Chelsea vs Arsenal line-ups

Chelsea XI: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Chalobah; Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho, Mount, Cucurella; Havertz, Aubameyang, Sterling

Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Jesus

12-in-a-row for Chelsea

Chelsea are unbeaten in 12 home matches in all competitions since losing 4-2 to Arsenal on 20th April earlier this year. They’ve won seven and drawn five during that run.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is ‘really humble’ despite fast and flashy reputation

Chelsea boss Graham Potter says Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s flashy luxury cars are a mismatch for his misunderstood personality.

Sunday’s clash will be the first time the Blues striker has faced Arsenal since leaving the Gunners by mutual consent in February, when Aubameyang blamed his fraught relationship with manager Mikel Arteta as the primary reason he parted ways with the club he once captained.

But Potter was adamant that despite what some might assume about the former Gabon skipper, who is thought to have spent millions on luxury rides including Lamborghinis and Ferraris, Aubameyang is perfectly down-to-earth.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is ‘really humble’ despite fast and flashy reputation

Sunday’s clash will be the first time the Chelsea striker has faced Arsenal since leaving the Gunners

Graham Potter spoke in his pre-match press confernece about how tough today’s clash with Arsenal will be but says he wants his Chelsea sdie to impose themselves on the game especially because it is being played at Stamford Bridge.

“That’s the challenge,” said Potter in response to a questiion on how Chelsea will handle the high-flying Gunners. “Arsenal is a step up, so we have to respect the opponent and what they do well, and try to bring our own game.

“We’re at Stamford Bridge and it’s important we try to do that. We want to impose ourselves as much as we can.

“It’s an important game, but success isn’t built by one match. You need to work, decide who and how you’re playing. It’s a process of pain and suffering, but you clearly need results along the way.”

Chelsea vs Arsenal

Arsenal are vying to win three consecutive league games away to Chelsea for the first time since 1974.

The Gunners have won three of their last four Premier League fixtures versus the Blues. Prior this, they had only claimed two victories in 17 top-flight meetings with six draws and nine defeats.

‘Jesus’ bad luck will change’ says Arteta

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, says that Gabriel Jesus will turn around his unlucky form and start to score again for the Gunners after his brilliant start at the Emirates has hit a rocky patch in recent games.

“That’s going to change [his bad luck], he’s getting the situations, he’s getting the chances, he’s contributing to the team an awful lot, he’s helping to win matches, the way he competes for every ball in every single action is incredible.” said the Arsenal boss when asked about Jesus’ form.

“It will come, he needs to be patient, he’s been through that in the past and he needs to learn those lessons and don’t stop doing those other things that he’s doing so well, because that’s going to maintain the level of him and the team.”

Chelsea players shouldn’t hold back despite World Cup injury risk, Graham Potter claims

Chelsea boss Graham Potter does not expect Premier League players to hold back ahead of the World Cup despite concerns that injuries might rule them out.

Ben Chilwell’s dream of making the England squad for Qatar has likely been crushed after he sustained a hamstring injury in the Blues’ Champions League clash with Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday.

He is one of several top-flight stars who have late fitness concerns ahead of the finals, with Tottenham’s Son Heung-min also set to undergo surgery for a facial fracture sustained at Marseille on Tuesday.

It has sparked calls from some corners for the Premier League to postpone the final round of matches before the break.

Chelsea players shouldn’t hold back despite World Cup injury risk, Graham Potter says

Ben Chilwell is one of a number of Premier League players with injuries putting their place in Qatar in doubt

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