Arsenal will be looking to end a three-game winless run in the Premier League when they meet London rivals Chelsea in Week 11’s final game on Sunday evening. Mikel Arteta’s title-hopefuls have had some ordinary results since the last international break- losing away to both Bournemouth and Newcastle and drawing at home to Liverpool.
The twin setbacks at the Vitality Stadium and St.James Park have seen the Gunners drop out of the top four. Defeat here could potentially mean them being ten points off the top of the table going into the November break. Liverpool play before the Gunners and should the Reds win against Aston Villa as expected, this fixture against Chelsea then enters a “cannot lose” zone for the Gunners.
AFC results after October international break
Arsenal come into this game on the back of a disappointing 1-0 away loss in the Champions League to Inter Milan. The Gunners were actually very good against the Nerazzurri– most of the attacking stats were in their favour, but they ended up on the wrong side of the scoreline at the San Siro.
What was more concerning for Arteta were the knocks picked up by Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz, both of whom were forced off the field after head collisions. Declan Rice didn’t travel with the side to Italy either, and Arsenal’s thin resources could get quite stretched if this trio and Martin Odegaard are unable to play a significant part in Sunday’s game.
Bet442 suggests this is a tight game to call, and that’s not a surprise, given the two teams’ current positions on the log. They also have identical W-D-L records at this stage (5 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats)
The November break could perhaps not have come at a more opportune time for the injury-hit Gunners, but Arteta would’ve certainly preferred an easier opponent for GW11 going into the break. Enzo Maresca has got his Blues purring after a sluggish start to the campaign, and they thrashed Noah 8-0 in the Conference League in midweek.
Chelsea drew 1-1 at Man United last weekend, with Felipe Caicedo scoring a stunning goal- his first league one for the Blues, to equalise for them after United had taken the lead from the penalty spot through Bruno Fernandes.
The referee for the game?
Michael Oliver will ref Arsenal for the third time this season, having previously been in charge of their games against Aston Villa (2-0 win) and Manchester City (2-2 draw) in 24/25.
Oliver is yet to ref a Chelsea game this season, but interestingly, has been in charge of this specific fixture before, with Arsenal clearly having the upper hand.
Recent Arsenal v Chelsea games with Michael Oliver as referee
Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal (2022/23)
Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea (2020/21)
Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea (2017/18 League Cup)
Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal (2017/18)
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea (2016/17)