Key events
3 min: Chelsea are making a slightly nervous start. Cucurella heads back to his keeper Petrovic and only just gets enough purchase on the ball. Trossard was hovering.
2 min: ⦠so but for an inch or two, Arsenal could be one up already and Chelsea a man down.
25 sec: White curls a low pass down the inside-right channel to release Havertz on goal! He enters the box before being tugged back by Badiashile. Clearly a penalty ⦠but the flag goes up, correctly, for offside. What an escape for Chelsea. What a start that could have been!
Chelsea get the ball rolling. Arsenal kicking towards their famous clock.
The teams are out! Arsenal wear their red and white, Chelsea blue and gold. Everyone looking real fine. Everyone at the Emirates sounding damn good as well, the atmosphere just as youâd expect ahead of a midweek derby between two huge rivals under the lights. Weâll be off soon enough!
Mauricio Pochettino talks to TNT. âWe need to move on ⦠we were disappointed after the semi ⦠it is another opportunity today ⦠it is not easy to replace a player [Cole Palmer] that is doing really well for us ⦠the playmaker ⦠but we need to know how we need to play ⦠Alfie Gilchrist already has experience ⦠he must take things in a natural way and try to play and perform the way he knows.â
Mikel Arteta speaks to TNT Sports. âWe know we will have to be really good tonight to beat this team ⦠we keep fighting ⦠we have won ten out of 11 and are still not top, that is the level we are in ⦠[Saliba and Gabriel] is a huge platform, they is an unbelievable chemistry there, an understanding, they complement each other in the right way ⦠theyâve been playing for two years together and keep growing ⦠we are blessed to have them ⦠the team defensively has been collectively strong ⦠we have already been here and we know what it takes ⦠we are here to impact the game ⦠we have the ability ⦠when it comes to these moments you have to step up and make it happen.â
Arsenal make two changes to their starting XI after the 2-0 win at Wolves. Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu are in; Gabriel Jesus and Jakub Kiwior drop to the bench.
Chelsea make four changes in the wake of their 1-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester City. Cole Palmer is ill and Malo Gusto is injured, while Trevoh Chalobah and Thiago Silva drop to the bench. Mykhailo Mudryk, Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile and Alfie Gilchrist step up.
The teams
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Saka, Havertz, Trossard.
Subs: Ramsdale, Gabriel Jesus, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, Nketiah, Kiwior, Jorginho, Vieira, Zinchenko.
Chelsea: Petrovic, Disasi, Gilchrist, Badiashile, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Madueke, Gallagher, Mudryk, Jackson.
Subs: Thiago Silva, Sterling, Bettinelli, Chalobah, Chukwuemeka, Casadei, Washington, Tauriainen, Dyer.
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire).
ð´ ð§ððð ðððð âªï¸
ð Tomiyasu returns
âï¸ Partey in the middle
â¡ï¸ Havertz leads the lineLet’s seize the opportunity, Gunners ð pic.twitter.com/aOiWCkh43k
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 23, 2024
Preamble
Arsenal can go three points clear at the top of the Premier League tonight, and in doing so, tick off one of the harder matches of their title-race run-in. Theyâll fancy their chances against a side that everyone has suddenly started referring to as Cole Palmer FC, but tonight wonât feature any Cole Palmer. Arsenal are the form horse, having won 11 of their last 13 Premier League matches, and have only lost one of their last nine encounters with Chelsea, though they lost their last home game, against Aston Villa. Meanwhile Chelsea are belatedly getting it together under Mauricio Pochettino: theyâre unbeaten in eight league games, and were the better side in defeat to Manchester City in the cup semis last weekend. So all in all, for a match between first and ninth, between teams separated by 27 points, this is balanced rather nicely. Kick-off is at 8pm BST. Business-end drama ahoy! Itâs on!
