Chelsea play their final match before November’s international break at home to rivals Arsenal this weekend.
Chelsea host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League, which has not been a kind fixture for them recently. In fact, the Blues have one win, one draw and six defeats in the previous eight league games against tomorrow’s opponents.
Enzo Maresca’s side go into this weekend sitting fourth in the division table, so it would be great to go into the imminent international break still in the Champions League positions.
Alan Shearer thinks the midfield battle will decide Chelsea versus Arsenal, where there’s plenty of top-class players in some great form right now. In particular, Moises Caicedo is now consistently showing why he cost £115m to sign from Brighton last year.
Craig Burley predicts Chelsea vs Arsenal
ESPN pundit Craig Burley has tipped Arsenal to beat Chelsea by a 2-0 scoreline this weekend.
He told ESPN: “I think they’re a better side than Chelsea… When Cole Palmer doesn’t perform, and he didn’t play particularly well at Old Trafford, Chelsea suffer. I just feel Arsenal are a stronger outfit. They really need it more.”
It’s hard to argue that one side needs three points more than the other because both have their own objectives. However, if Arsenal do want to compete for the league title again, surely they can’t slip even further behind the top after some poor results recently.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is respectful of Chelsea’s development under Maresca, but he’ll know his team desperately needs a win in tomorrow’s London derby.
Enzo Maresca should consider starting Mykhailo Mudryk
If Chelsea boss Maresca fancies springing a surprise on Arsenal on Sunday, he should put Mykhailo Mudryk in the starting line-up.
The 23-year-old winger has started to show some glimpses this year of his talent and potential, including on Thursday night when he scored a stunning goal from outside the box in the 8-0 win over Noah.
Here is a look at Mudryk’s output so far this season:
| Competition | Appearances (Starts) | Goals | Assists |
| Premier League | 6 (1) | 0 | 0 |
| Conference League | 3 (3) | 2 | 3 |
| Conference League qualifiers | 2 (2) | 0 | 3 |
| Carabao Cup | 2 (2) | 0 | 1 |
Remarkably, Mudryk hasn’t started a league match for the Blues since 25 August against Wolverhampton Wanderers. He’s definitely been knocking on the door to play more with what he’s doing in the cup competitions, though.
Peter Crouch thinks Chelsea attacker Mudryk is “looking sharper” this season.
It would be great to see the Ukraine international starting on the left wing against Arsenal, which would leave either Pedro Neto or Noni Madueke to play on the right flank.
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