Chelsea vs Arsenal match preview: London Derby in the Premier League
Chelsea team news
For all intents and purposes, Chelsea is relatively healthy heading into this contest. The Blues have had injury woes all season long—particularly during the winter months—so as long as they can field a near-fully fit starting XI, they’re better off than they were a few months ago. This is especially true in regards to the wingbacks, where there is quite possibly the shallowest depth anywhere in Tuchel’s squad. This leads us perfectly into a bit of obvious team news, left back Ben Chilwell remains out as he continues to recover from his ACL surgery.
Higher up the pitch, Mateo Kovacic is expected to miss out due to an ankle injury he picked up in Sunday’s FA Cup semifinal. The Croatian midfielder was substituted in the first half after picking up a knock. Tuchel spoke on the injury after the full-time whistle at Wembley Stadium:
"“When Kova comes off, you know that he is in pain. The ankle is swollen, it’s a huge ankle right now. So let’s hope. It doesn’t look so good but we will wait for the examination and we can tell you more.”"
Luckily, the recent resurgence of Ruben Loftus-Cheek gives the manager more options in the middle of the park. The Englishman scored the opener against Crystal Palace following two sensational performances at St. Mary’s and the Santiago Bernabeu last week. He looks to have earned his place above Atletico Madrid loanee Saul in the midfield pecking order, right behind Jorginho and N’Golo Kante. Both the Italian and French international are also ready to start on Wednesday against the Gunners if called upon.
Callum Hudson-Odoi remains sidelined with a mysterious injury that seems to have only gotten worse as the weeks have gone on. What appeared to be a minor knock at first has since turned into a series of setbacks that’s seen Hudson-Odoi sit out for more than a month. Elsewhere in attack, Romelu Lukaku looks fully fit once again after returning to action against Crystal Palace.
Arsenal team news
The Arsenal injury list is just about as long as its London rival’s, but Mikel Arteta looks to be without some bigger names for the Derby. Kieran Tierney—similar to his Chelsea counterpart, Chilwell—is set to miss the remainder of the current campaign as he recovers from surgery. The Scottish defender suffered a knee injury in training a few weeks ago during the international break. It’s a huge miss for Arsenal, who has looked a bit out of sorts recently at the back.
Thomas Partey, another player who has enjoyed a breakout season in north London, also looks like he’ll miss the rest of the Premier League season. Partey has been a huge asset to Arteta in the middle of the park this season and part of the reason the Gunners have been so stable at the back. Granit Xhaka and Albert Sambi Lokonga have both played a lot of football this season though, so they look ready to step up in the Ghanian’s absence.
The two unknowns for the visitors on Wednesday are Alexandre Lacazette and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Both are presumably going to be out of the line-up after missing recent matches, but the manager recently hinted at Tomiyasu returning to training following the trip to the south coast. Luckily for the Gunners, they have plenty of depth both at the back and along the front lines to provide suitable replacements for the two for the near future.