Date: 18th August 2018 at 8:16am
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A Blue Up North previews Chelsea’s first home match of the season.

This weekend sees the second round of matches of The Premier League and for the Saturday teatime kick off all eyes will be on Stamford Bridge as Chelsea host London rivals Arsenal.

Both clubs were making news headlines during the summer with their managerial changes. As a result of which, this match will be the first time in 23 years that The Blues face a Gunners team without Arsene Wenger in charge.

New boss Unai Emery has taken on the task of turning Arsenal back into a title challenging side and, in their opening fixture he witnessed how big a task he has as they were extremely poor at times in losing at home to the current champions, Manchester City.

Meanwhile Maurizio Sarri’s tenure as Chelsea’s manager enjoyed a winning start as they comfortably swept to a 3-0 win away to Huddersfield Town.

So both teams go into their clash with varying amounts of confidence. Admittedly Arsenal were not at full strength in defence and looked very shaking under City’s high press tactics. The Gunners may have left back Nacho Monreal fit again for this weekend in the hope of being more resolute at the back.

Sarri also did not have a full squad to choose from thanks to late signings and players missing most of preseason due to their World Cup exploits. After impressing on his late substitute appearance last weekend, Eden Hazard is in line for a starting place. The questions will be is he fit enough to start such a competitive match yet and who will he replace in the front 3. For me, Willian and Morata showed such positive signs in the win at Huddersfield that it would be Pedro if Sarri deems Hazard ready to start.

The other potential change could see Mateo Kovacic replace Ross Barkley to make his first appearance for The Blues. However I think this is unlikely after Barkley’s performance last weekend and the Englishman will only become more influential the more he plays.

Stamford Bridge has in recent seasons returned to being a fortress for The Blues against The Gunners. Chelsea have won five of their last six home league games against Arsenal, the exception being the 0-0 draw last season. The Gunners have failed to score in four of their last five Premier League visits and so the omens look good for Sarri to continue his winning start.

However, Arsenal will arrive like a wounded animal after their negative result and media backlash after their opening loss. Their under performing players will have a point to prove and their recent cup wins over The Blues show that on their day they have the ability to outplay and beat favourites Chelsea.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted 10 goals in 13 Premier League appearances for Arsenal last season and will be a constant threat to the home defence. His goal threat could be key with both sides guilty of missing a lot of great scoring chances far too often.

The ideal scenario will be for The Blues to get back to their preseason form of scoring early in the match. Arsenal will be hoping to frustrate their hosts and be hoping the crowd get restless and unsettle the home side.

But surely the more the Chelsea players take to Sarri’s philosophy and style of play, the more likely they will be victorious once again and force Arsenal to continue their relatively poor form in London derbies.

A win for The Blues will be the perfect platform going into their upcoming Premier League fixtures.

Written by Jon Ellis, home and away season ticket holder. Follow him on Twitter @ClitheroeBlue

 

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