Chelsea: Three things to mind against Arsenal

Chelsea preseason continues with a slightly unique twist. Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham have agreed to do a round robin series of charity games for Mind, a group dedicated to improving mental health as the Covid pandemic hopefully maybe someday finally ends.

First up will be Arsenal who, despite this being a charity match, will obviously take the match seriously. Thomas Tuchel wanted a hard preseason to get ready for a rough start to the year, and that work starts now. What should fans look for or keep in mind for this match?

1. Who starts up top?

Timo Werner and Kai Havertz might make the bench, but starts may come a little bit too soon. It would make more sense to start strikers that have been in preseason longer than a week and that comes down to Tammy Abraham and Armando Broja.

Abraham started against Bournemouth and did okay all things considered, but the value of his performance dropped when he came off and both Broja and Ike Ugbo scored. With news of a transfer again heating up, Abraham may sit this one.

In his place could (and should) be Broja. Broja has scored in all three of Chelsea’s preseason fixtures (if you include the intrasquad match as well). He looked fantastic against Bournemouth and if there is any though of keeping him around next season, a start against Arsenal could go a long ways towards answering any questions.