Mikel Arteta hopes to seal his first win as Arsenal manager when his side hosts Chelsea on Sunday. The Blues will look to triumph in North London for the first time since January 2016.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard faced Arsenal 41 times in his playing career but only won in 12 of those games, his worst record against any team he met on at least 20 occasions.
[protected-iframe id=”59ebe181bd95a408ffd30d712f2d1f25-58289342-150719707″ info=”https://fubo-preview.global.ssl.fastly.net/lp/preview/index-lite.html?params=irad%3D540143%26irmp%3D1205322%26pack%3Dfubotv-basic&page_slug=NBCSN” style=”max-width: 640px;” width = “100%”]
Arsenal vs. Chelsea
- When: Sunday, December 29
- Time: 9:00 a.m. ET
- TV: NBCSN
- Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)
Arsenal has one win in its last 14 games and sits 11th ahead of Week 20. Arteta will make his managerial debut at Emirates Stadium after clinching draws at Everton (0-0) and Bournemouth (1-1).
Chelsea looked to have ended its patchy run with a 2-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur in Week 18, but a 2-0 loss at home to Southampton on Boxing Day has brought the question back. The West Londoners demolished the Gunners 4-1 when these teams most recently met in last season’s UEFA Europa League final. Maurizio Sarri was at the Chelsea helm when the team won the tournament in May, but each team has since changed managers and put former players in charge.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck in the second half to secure a 1-1 draw for Arsenal in its visit to Bournemouth on Thursday, the team’s fourth straight league game without a win.
Chelsea was prevented from scoring in back-to-back home games following its 1-0 loss to Bournemouth and a mid-week defeat to Southampton. Lampard hasn’t won consecutive league games since the first week of November, but his side will secure fourth place provided it avoids defeat at Emirates.
Arteta has an extensive list of injuries afflicting his squad, particularly on defense. Shkodran Mustafi could start in the middle after Sokratis Papastathopoulos came off with a knock during the draw at Bournemouth, with fellow centre-back Rob Holding currently out of action.
Full-backs Hector Bellerin, Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolasinac each missed the Cherries’ visit and may not recover to face Chelsea. Midfielder Dani Ceballos and forward Gabriel Martinelli are also each in doubt but, have better chances of recovering in time for Sunday.
These outfits will clash twice in less than one month, and Arsenal must clinch three points if its to stand a chance of finishing the decade inside the Premier League’s top half.
We recommend interesting sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you sign up to a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.