We’ll be aiming to get back to winning ways when we take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday (4.30pm UK), and perhaps a London derby is just the tonic Mikel Arteta’s side need to head into the international break on a high.

We have won our last six main battles by an aggregate score of 22-3, including a 5-0 win over the Blues in our last meeting. That may have been at the Emirates Stadium, but our record at the Bridge is also quite formidable, having not lost there since 2018 and winning three of the last four.

Both teams go into this match on contrasting fortunes in midweek Europe, but remain 18 points in the Premier League standings. Increasing that number by three will be a huge boost for both sides as they look to enter the final break of the year breathing down the necks of the leaders.

Goal-hungry Blues on the rise

Chelsea spent a further £200m this summer as Enzo Maresca put his spin on a squad that finished in seventh place last season. Five league wins from ten games have taken them into the top four they desperately crave this weekend.

Only Manchester City and Liverpool have taken three points from the West Londoners, while City are the only team to score more than Chelsea’s 20 goals. However, they have won just two of their five league matches at Stamford Bridge so far and have still kept a clean sheet in that time, but did beat Newcastle United in their last Premier League game at home a fortnight ago.

Maresca is playing in the Conference League this season and has chosen to field a B team in those matches, regularly making eleven substitutions. It hasn’t hampered them as they top the table with maximum points and sixteen goals from three games, including Thursday’s 8-0 defeat to Armenian side Noah.

What the managers say

Arteta: “If you don’t win it affects the mood and the energy, but the positive thing is that there is no way anyone in this room or outside wants to win more than me, and these guys in the locker room do. Today I I had a conversation about it with them and I felt it immediately.

“I’m really impressed with what (Maresca’s) done, but what they’ve done in the last year, because with Mauricio (Pocchetino), the last six months have been extraordinary. You could see the squad, the quality they have, the number of players They did that and then Enzo put his spin and you can clearly see what he wants to do. I think he has been very brave from day one to consistently follow what he wanted to do.’

Maresca: “Right now the feeling for us is that we can compete and beat any team. We have the right feeling that we are going in the right direction. Hopefully we can give our fans a good day on Sunday.”

“I also like to put pressure on these kinds of games. Arsenal are certainly the closest to City. I think both are better than the rest. But we are going to try to make life difficult for them.” Set pieces, they are very good. I watched the Champions League match against Inter Milan and every corner smelled like a goal.”

Team news

Declan Rice missed the match against Inter Milan in midweek with a toe problem and Mikel Arteta is unsure whether he will be fit for the clash with Chelsea, while the same goes for Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz, who were forced off at the San Siro.

Raheem Sterling is unavailable as he cannot play against his parent club, while Riccardo Calafiori is struggling with a knee problem. Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney remain out due to knee and hamstring injuries that have hampered them all season.

Maresca’s biggest concern is Cole Palmer, who suffered a blow against Manchester United last weekend following a tackle from Lisandro Martinez and has missed most training this week, while Jaydon Sancho is struggling with illness but is closer to a return. .

TALKING TACTICS

Adrian Clarke: “The best central midfielder in the Premier League this season is Moises Caicedo, so this is a game where we have to be especially strong in the engine room. The Ecuadorian’s ball-winning qualities have really come to the fore in a more defensive role under Enzo Maresca, and his partnership with Romeo Lavia is blossoming very nicely. As Chelsea are a team that also likes to rotate their full-backs, we should try not to overload in those central areas.

“Maresca’s desire to position at least one of his wing-backs in central midfield is also a trick we may want to exploit. For example, if right-back Malo Gusto is stranded in an advanced position, the Gunners will look to attack quickly to our left.

“Chelsea’s front four have been very good this season. The wingers want to stay wide and isolate the full backs 1v1 and within them Cole Palmer is one of the players of the season. No one has created more chances in open play than the England international, who has seven goals and five assists to his name.

“Nicolas Jackson’s pace is also something to look forward to. He has been rejuvenated and has found the back of the net six times, and he will look to sprint behind William Saliba and Gabriel Maghalaes as often as he can. In those situations, Palmer and Caicedo are especially good at sliding through balls to the back for him to run onto. His goals at West Ham United and Liverpool both came from Caicedo passes.

“Given the size of his squad, I have been very impressed with Maresca’s management this season and his clever use of 4-2-3-1. He has done his job calmly, adjusted the playing style and somehow found a solid side he can rely on.

“The only problem that should give us encouragement is their lack of clean sheets. In their last ten games the Blues have only eliminated minnows Barrow and FC Noah, conceding once or twice in the other eight matches. There are eight top teams with a better expected goal tally than Chelsea, so if we attack with positivity and conviction we should create plenty of chances at Stamford Bridge.”

Facts and statistics

Chelsea have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against us (D2 L6), a 2-0 away win in August 2021.

We have won three of our last four Premier League away games against Chelsea (D1), the same number as in our previous twenty visits.

The Blues have only lost one of their last ten London derbies in the Premier League (W7 D2), but that defeat came to us in April.

Chelsea have conceded at least once in each of their last six Premier League home games, the last of which was a longer run between December 2015 and August 2016 (13). With five of those games in 2024/25, this is the longest series without a clean sheet on home field since the start of a league match since 2011/2012 (6).

We last lost three in a row on the road in December 2021, while we last did so without scoring in August 1994.

We have only lost one of our last 26 Premier League games on the weekend immediately following a European match (W19 D6), against Aston Villa in April.

Of all the managers who have faced Chelsea at least ten times in the Premier League, only Kenny Dalglish (77%) has a higher win percentage against the Blues than Mikel Arteta (60%), who is unbeaten in his five trips to Stamford Bridge.

No player has been involved in more Premier League goals this season than Cole Palmer (7 goals, 5 assists), while also creating the most chances from open play (24).

Bukayo Saka has provided more assists than any other player in the Premier League (7). He has also scored (1) or assisted (2) in each of his last three away games against Chelsea in the Premier League, with Sergio Agüero and Javier Hernandez the only visiting players to do so in four consecutive matches.