Out to snap a two-game winless sequence at the Emirates Stadium, Premier League leaders Arsenal host Chelsea in Tuesday's tantalising London derby.
The Gunners ascended to the summit with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, just a couple of hours after the Blues were their own worst enemies in an FA Cup semi-final exit to Manchester City.
Match preview
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It took a matter of a few days for Arsenal's double dreams to be left in tatters, as after suffering their first Premier League loss of 2024 at home to Aston Villa, the Gunners fell short in their Champions League revenge mission against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.
Bouncing back at an injury-hit Wolverhampton Wanderers side was therefore of the utmost importance, and while Saturday's Molineux encounter was at times a painful watch for the away end, goals in either half from Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard sealed the deal.
As well as setting a new club record of keeping six straight clean sheets on the road in the top flight, Arsenal's triumph on April 20 propelled the Gunners back to the summit over Man City as the holders fulfilled their FA Cup commitments against Tuesday's visitors to the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta's men will temporarily increase their advantage over the treble winners - who do not play again until Thursday - to four points with a 24th Premier League success of the season in midweek, and not since April 2022 have the hosts lost back-to-back home games in the division.
Furthermore, the Gunners have to go back to the behind-closed-doors era (November 2020) for the last time that they suffered consecutive top-flight defeats at the Emirates without scoring, and they will not be taking any attacking pointers from Mauricio Pochettino's men this week.
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Chelsea's lengthy recuperation period was evident against a Man City side wounded from their Real Madrid-inflicted Champions League heartbreak at Wembley, where the Blues were carving out opportunities at will in their bid to meet Coventry City or Manchester United in the showpiece.
However, a glut of chances came and went without Pochettino's profligate troops finding the back of the net once - Nicolas Jackson in particular did his reputation no favours - and one deflected strike from Bernardo Silva was all it took to ensure that the Chelsea boss' agonising wait for a trophy in English football will go on.
As applaudable as Chelsea's overall performance was against the jaded treble winners, the Blues only had themselves to blame for failing to convert their multitude of openings, although Man City's Jack Grealish was perhaps fortunate to escape giving away a second-half penalty for handball.
Chelsea's wastefulness was in stark contrast to their Cole Palmer-inspired 6-0 beatdown of Everton in their last Premier League match, marking the sixth top-flight contest in a row where they have netted at least two goals, and they have now scored in their last 15 Premier League games since coincidentally going down 2-0 to Everton in December.
Ninth in the standings on account of their eight-game unbeaten run in the big time, Chelsea remain very much in European contention as the campaign draws to a close, RANKINGS UPDATE.
Arsenal rode their luck in October's Stamford Bridge showdown with Chelsea, but they managed to escape with the 2-2 draw which stretched their unbeaten run against the Blues to four games, a sequence which includes a 3-1 success on Emirates soil last season.
Team News
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As well as known victim Jurrien Timber, who will step up his return from an ACL injury in an Under-21s fixture on Monday evening, Arsenal also lost Takehiro Tomiyasu to a knock before the win over Wolves at the weekend.
The Japan international sustained his issue in the Champions League loss to Bayern in midweek, but the Gunners labelled his absence precautionary, so there is ever chance that he might be given the green light to make the squad at the Emirates.
Even if the derby comes too soon for Tomiyasu, there will be scope for a defensive change anyway, as Jakub Kiwior endured a challenging evening at left-back on Saturday night and could cede his spot to the refreshed Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Regarding Chelsea's injury situation, Pochettino arrives at the Emirates without several long-term victims, including Romeo Lavia (thigh), Wesley Fofana (knee), Lesley Ugochukwu (thigh), Reece James (thigh) and Christopher Nkunku (thigh), the latter of whom may be the only one to return before the campaign ends.
Levi Colwill (toe) and Robert Sanchez (illness) should be the first on the conveyor belt out of the infirmary, but the pair remain sidelined for now, and Pochettino has also been handed three more untimely concerns ahead of the trip to the Emirates.
The Argentine has conceded that top scorer Cole Palmer is unlikely to be involved due to illness in a huge blow for the visitors - Raheem Sterling could benefit from his absence - while Malo Gusto and Ben Chilwell are both nursing knee issues and will need late fitness tests too.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Petrovic; Disasi, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Sterling, Gallagher, Mudryk; Jackson
We say: Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea
Chelsea may have had few problems finding the mark in the Premier League of late, but their incredibly wasteful Wembley display is cause for concern before a trip to the best defence the Premier League has to offer, and Palmer's expected absence may resign some Blues fans to concede defeat already.
With minimal recovery time on both ends, Tuesday's London derby should not be a goal-laden classic - especially with Arsenal losing their way in the final third recently - but the Gunners, who have opened the scoring in 25 Premier League games this term, can strike first and shut up shop to continue looking down on the other 19 teams in the division.
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Ben Knapton
