A tantalising London derby takes place in gameweek two of the new Premier League season, as Arsenal and Chelsea face off at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners opened the new campaign with a dismal 2-0 defeat at Brentford last Friday, whereas Thomas Tuchel's side eased to a 3-0 success over Crystal Palace.
Match preview
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Only now has it been confirmed that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette's 'illnesses' last week were in fact COVID-19, as the two strikers were ruled out on the morning of the Brentford game before Mikel Arteta's side were taught a footballing lesson by the newbies.
Sergi Canos rifled in the first goal of the Premier League season and Brentford's first in the competition in the 22nd minute, and as Arsenal's futile attempts to claw their way back into the game failed to bear fruit, Christian Norgaard bullied his way through the Arsenal defence to propel the Bees to a historic win.
Many believed that a campaign without European football would only benefit Arsenal domestically, but the Gunners - albeit one depleted by injuries and illnesses - kicked off the season in the manner that Gooners feared following an equally woeful pre-season period.
However, as disgruntled supporters prepare to make their return to the Emirates, Arsenal can take some solace in the fact that they claimed back-to-back wins in their final two home games last term, although they were against Brighton & Hove Albion and West Bromwich Albion.
Having had 22 shots without finding the back of the net against Brentford, the potential absences of Aubameyang and Lacazette are well and truly felt in the Emirates ranks, and worryingly, five of Arsenal's last 10 opening home games have ended in defeat.
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While their London counterparts were being humbled, Chelsea simply cruised to three points in a capital derby of their own, striking three times without reply against Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace in front of the Stamford Bridge faithful.
Marcos Alonso's free kick represented a stellar way to open the Blues' account for the new season, and the Blues would add to their tally through Christian Pulisic's tap-in and Trevoh Chalobah's long-range effort - some way to score your first goal for the European champions.
Keeping the momentum going from their enthralling yet draining victory over Villarreal in the Super Cup, Chelsea have already risen to second in the fledgling standings, but the Champions League holders will undoubtedly have their eyes set on wrestling the crown off of Manchester City's hands.
Chelsea fans need no reminding that their final away game last season ended in a dampening 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, but they had witnessed their side win six and draw two of their previous eight on the road before that and have not lost to Arsenal on a Sunday since the 2008-09 season.
However, Frank Lampard and Tuchel both had no answer to Arteta's fluid Arsenal in the 2020-21 season, as the Gunners kickstarted their revival with a 3-1 Boxing Day win at the Emirates before Emile Smith Rowe capitalised on Jorginho's error at Stamford Bridge for a 1-0 win, although Chelsea did prevail 2-1 in the Mind Series earlier this month.
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Team News
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Arteta has admitted that his COVID-positive contingent are "still very uncertain" for Sunday's game, with Aubameyang and Willian set to be assessed while Lacazette and Alex Runarsson prepare to miss out.
The home side also remain without Gabriel, Thomas Partey and Eddie Nketiah through injury, while Martin Odegaard has arrived from Real Madrid on a permanent basis but will not feature just yet due to visa issues.
Arsenal also announced the arrival of Aaron Ramsdale on Friday evening, and he should be in contention to feature, but Bernd Leno will expect to retain the gloves for the time being.
In two huge boosts to the visitors, new arrival Romelu Lukaku and N'Golo Kante could be given the green light to line up at the Emirates, with the latter aiming to shake off an ankle problem in time to be available.
Hakim Ziyech also has a chance of returning from a shoulder problem here, while Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek - who would struggle to start anyway - have both tested positive for coronavirus.
Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and Reece James all had to make do with spots on the bench last week, and it is difficult to see any member of the trio forcing their way back into the first XI for Sunday's match.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Leno; Chambers, White, Mari, Tierney; Xhaka, Lokonga; Saka, Smith Rowe, Pepe; Martinelli
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Mendy; Chalobah, Christensen, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kante, Alonso; Mount, Havertz; Lukaku
We say: Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea
Arsenal certainly have some bright young talent in their attacking ranks, but after experiencing very little joy against Brentford, a similar story is likely to follow against the champions of Europe.
With Lukaku out to score his first ever goal for Chelsea and the Blues seeking to avenge back-to-back defeats last season, we can only see the blue side of London celebrating after Sunday's game.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Chelsea win with a probability of 45.5%. A win for Arsenal had a probability of 28.27% and a draw had a probability of 26.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Chelsea win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.47%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.05%) and 0-2 (8.33%). The likeliest Arsenal win was 1-0 (8.59%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.46%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with an 8.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Chelsea would win this match.
