Arsenal host Chelsea on Sunday in the first North West London derby of the Premier League season. The Gunners got off to the worst possible start to the new season as they lost to Premier League newcomers Brentford, while the Blues didn’t face any roadblocks in their opening fixture, cruising to a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Chelsea will go into this game as the favourites, not just because of their superior squad and their good form, but also because of the numerous Arsenal players who will be absent. Several Arsenal players will be unavailable for selection for Mikel Arteta due to COVID-19 infections, while a few will miss out through injury.
Here, we take a look at the 3 key battles in the game between Arsenal and Chelsea:
Romelu Lukaku vs Pablo Mari
Chelsea’s new signing Romelu Lukaku will make his second debut for the Blues this weekend against Arsenal. It remains to be seen if Thomas Tuchel throws the Belgian straight into the starting XI. The German manager could very well do so as Lukaku had a pre-season with his former club Inter Milan.
Lukaku will likely be up against a back three consisting of Ben White, Pablo Mari, and Kieran Tierney. Mari may be the central of the three at the back and Lukaku could try to bully the Spaniard with his pace and strength. The Belgian has scored thrice and assisted five times in 17 appearances against Arsenal but will look for a significant improvement in his second spell in England.
Marcos Alonso vs Hector Bellerin
Marcos Alonso was the surprise package last time around against Crystal Palace as the wing-back bombed up and down the left flank time and again. Alonso is superb going forward and he could exploit the Arsenal backline with his speed and dribbling ability. He will be up against his Spanish compatriot Hector Bellerin, who can be weak defensively.
Alonso could combine with the left-sided Chelsea attacker to make space for himself and run at the Arsenal defence.
Emile Smith Rowe vs Mateo Kovacic
Arsenal look bereft of ideas while going forward, but the one bright spark at the end of last season was Emile Smith Rowe. The youngster has the knack of finding himself some space on the pitch, dribbling at the opposition, and even threading clever balls. The 21-year-old’s off-the-ball running could cause some trouble to the Chelsea defence, and Blues midfielder Mateo Kovacic will be expected to track his runs and avoid giving him any space. This could be an intriguing battle in the middle of the park and Smith Rowe could be Arsenal’s go-to man in attack.
