Arsenal vs Chelsea: Premier League – prediction, teams, lineups

Who: Arsenal vs Chelsea
What: English Premier League
Where: Emirates Stadium, London, United Kingdom
When: Sunday, August 6, astatine 2pm (13:00 GMT).
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport volition bring you each the build-up up of our unrecorded sum from 10:00 GMT.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is relishing ‌the imaginable of facing longtime person Xabi Alonso successful the Premier League for the archetypal clip ⁠when the defending champions ⁠host Chelsea connected Sunday.

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Both sides person made cleanable starts to the season, with Arsenal and Chelsea some taking six points from their opening 2 matches.

Arteta and Alonso, some 44, grew ⁠up unneurotic successful Spain’s Basque Country and person remained adjacent passim their playing and coaching careers.

The brace archetypal faced each different arsenic managers successful a affable successful 2024 erstwhile Alonso was successful complaint of Bayer ⁠Leverkusen, but Sunday’s brushwood volition beryllium their archetypal gathering successful England’s apical flight.

“I americium truly blessed for him. It’s unthinkable due to the fact that evidently we person the past we person together,” Arteta told reporters connected Friday.

“To beryllium facing each different astatine specified a level and with the work we person managing immoderate of the apical clubs successful the state ‌is a truly beauteous happening to experience.”

Chelsea’s onslaught has been awesome aboriginal successful the campaign, with Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer each uncovering signifier successful beforehand of goal, but Arteta said controlling the travel of the crippled would beryllium crucial.

“That volition beryllium connected a batch of factors and crippled authorities is simply a monolithic one, particularly due to the fact that the 2 games that they played, they scored very, precise aboriginal and that changes the momentum and the displacement of the game,” Arteta said.

“But they are susceptible and ⁠he’s susceptible of playing successful assorted ways. He’s been a truly palmy manager ⁠so far.”

How did Arteta presumption Arsenal’s transportation model business?

Arsenal were linked with a fig of high-profile attacking targets during the transportation window, including Rogers, Julian Alvarez and Vinicius Junior, but their lone guardant summation was Greece winger Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge.

Arteta, however, brushed disconnected suggestions that Arsenal had fallen ⁠short successful the market.

“I don’t know, these are conscionable opinions,” the Spaniard said.

“The model is closed and I similar to look astatine each the unthinkable things ⁠that we person successful this squad and not to walk immoderate ⁠more clip connected the things that are not portion of america close now. That’s it and that’s my main responsibility.”

Arsenal volition thin heavy connected the likes of Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres and Bukayo Saka but Arteta insisted the onslaught is not weaker compared with past season, ‌despite the departures of Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli.

“We person to recognize the magnitude of minutes that those players played and the ones that were injured past year, particularly successful the archetypal six months, ‌and ‌the information shows thing wholly different,” Arteta said.

“But it is what it is. It is what we person and, arsenic I said before, we already person immoderate very, precise bully players.”

Alonso urges Chelsea to ‘move forward’ aft Fernandez’s exit

Alonso hopes everyone astatine Stamford Bridge tin present “move forward” pursuing the protracted merchantability of Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City.

The Argentina midfielder near Stamford Bridge to articulation City successful a British record-equalling 125-million-pound ($169m) woody up of the model closing connected Tuesday.

Chelsea had hoped to offset Fernandez’s exit by bringing successful midfielder Lamine Camara from Monaco, but that determination collapsed erstwhile the Ligue 1 broadside backed retired having not signed a woody expanse earlier the model closed.

Alonso, though, insists his absorption is connected the future, starting with Sunday’s travel crossed London to Premier League champions Arsenal, erstwhile Chelsea volition beryllium bidding to support their 100 percent commencement to the caller campaign.

“We instrumentality each the decisions together,” Alonso told a pre-match quality league connected Friday. “We are liable for them with our enactment together, the large ones, tiny ones.

“We knew yet the past extremity is to person the champion for the team, for the squad, for regular enactment here. We privation to physique a bully tone and a bully team, and we person ever taken the decisions reasoning that we wanted to scope that.”

Alonso added: “In football, galore things happen, and you request to beryllium prepared for everything.

“With Enzo, we person had conversations, but ever with respect arsenic well.

“What helium has done for the club, it has been great, and we are thankful, but present it is clip to determination forward. We person a batch of large personalities, players with a batch of prime successful each the antithetic positions and present we are acceptable to go.”

Alonso besides refused to spell into much item astir the illness of the woody for Camara.

“I deliberation that we are prepared and blessed with the squad, the depth, with the steadfast contention we person successful antithetic positions,” helium said. “It is simply a bully equilibrium betwixt players of antithetic stages [of their career].

“We request to physique that vigor during the week to execute good astatine the weekends. So far, it is conscionable 2 games, but it has been a bully commencement and present we cognize who is successful the gathering and that is bully to person that certainty.”

Chelsea’s squad has undergone large alteration implicit the summer.

“We tin beryllium precise blessed with the full transportation window,” said Alonso, who volition marque a precocious cheque implicit midfielder Moises Caicedo, who went disconnected during the closing stages against Brighton.

“What we started talking astir successful precocious May-early June, galore things we person accomplished.”

Prediction

The Opta supercomputer gives Arsenal a 56 percent accidental of victory, but lone offers Chelsea a 21 percent accidental of claiming each 3 points.

Head-to-head

This volition beryllium the 216th gathering betwixt the sides with Arsenal winning 87 of the encounters and Chelsea taking the spoils connected 66 occasions.

Arsenal squad news

Cristhian Mosquera and Bruno Guimaraes some missed grooming for Arsenal connected Thursday and are doubts for the game. The erstwhile was forced disconnected with a knock, alongside Declan Rice, successful the Gunners’ past match, leaving question marks implicit their fitness.

Ezri Konsa is acceptable to marque his afloat debut, truthful could beryllium a consecutive swap for Mosquera

Jurrien Timber has returned to grooming pursuing a groin injury, but William Saliba remains sidelined with a backmost problem.

Predicted Arsenal starting lineup

Raya; White, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Lewis-Skelly, Rice; Saka, Odegaard, Tzolis; Havertz

Chelsea squad news

Moises Caicedo is simply a uncertainty with a knock, portion Jordan Henderson and Marco Palestra are some confirmed absentees.

Predicted Chelsea starting lineup

Martinez; Lacroix, Colwill, Fofana; James, Gusto, Lavia, Hato; Rogers, Palmer; Pedro