Let's be real, Chelsea have a pretty poor head-to-head record against Arsenal in recent years. For a long while, this was a fixture that the Blues had dominated. But these days, wins over their London rivals have become a rarity for the Stamford Bridge outfit. Now, it is up to Liam Rosenior to change that.
Rosenior had a relatively easy debut matchup, playing against 19th-placed Championship side Charlton. His second game in charge is the complete opposite as he will be taking on arguably the best team in world football right now.
This Chelsea team has shown the ability to rise to the occasion in the recent past, even though they struggle to put to bed games which they should be easily winning. Even earlier this season, they did not lose to Arsenal despite going down to ten men. So, Rosenior should be confident about his team's ability to get a result.
At the same time, it looks like he is set to be without his best player. If Rosenior's comments are anything to go by, Cole Palmer is set to miss out on another game against Arsenal. As reported by football.london, the new Chelsea manager said about his star man:
"I had a really good, in-depth, conversation with Cole today [Monday]. I had a really good, in-depth, conversation with the medical team. We are at a stage of the season where, I think we have another eight games in three weeks. So it would be crazy for me to risk any player in this phase of the season.
"I have real faith in the group. They showed that. I made eight changes [at Charlton] and we had a really good performance. I'll make more changes for Wednesday. I'll make more changes for Saturday. But to risk a player's health in January is a crazy thing to do if you have the ambition that you want to be strong at the end of the season."
Liam Rosenior hints at bad news for Chelsea against Arsenal
Of course, Palmer has been struggling with a frustrating groin issue for a long time now, It has even kept him out for two separate spells this season already.
So, if there is any risk of Palmer injuring himself against Arsenal, he should be given the day off. The most important thing is the player's long-term fitness and allowing him to return to his best.
That will never happen if he continues to pick up niggling injuries by playing when he should not be. So, expect Palmer to not be in the starting XI when Chelsea face Arsenal this week.