Arsenal‘s form has been – by their incredible standards – woeful of late, with just two wins in six, so it’s a good thing that they’re playing Chelsea next.
The Gunners had asserted themselves as the closest challengers to Manchester City‘s Premier League supremacy in recent years, with back-to-back second place finishes in the table.
However this campaign things have not quite gone so swimmingly. Despite a hugely impressive 2-2 draw at the Etihad when down to 10 men, the Gunners have now won just two of their last six in all competitions, including defeats by Bournemouth, Newcastle and Inter Milan.
The Gunners have struggled with injuries, of course, as all teams do. Key blows to Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber, Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Mikel Merino and latterly Declan Rice have caused headaches for Mikel Arteta.
But with a number of his stars returned to fitness – not least captain Odegaard – there will be a boost in the Arsenal camp ahead of their clash with Chelsea, against whom the north Londoners have a surprisingly strong record against.
In their last 10 meetings, Arsenal have won seven and drawn two with an aggregate score of 23-11.
Yet perhaps most importantly for Arteta and Arsenal this time round, in recent seasons Chelsea have proven to be the team that sees the Gunners get out of a rut and get back to winning ways.
For example, ahead of the Boxing Day 2020-21 victory over Chelsea Arsenal had suffered three defeats (Burnley, Everton and Manchester City) and a draw against Southampton before a thumping 3-1 win at the Emirates.
Likewise, in 2021-22 the Gunners suffered defeats against Crystal Palace (3-0), Brighton (2-1), and Southampton (1-0) before taking on the Blues and winning 4-2.
And then in 2022-23, when their title charge was at last halted by draws with Liverpool (2-2), West Ham (2-2) and Southampton (3-3) and a bruising 4-1 defeat by Man City, who should they meet next game? Chelsea – and pulled off a 3-1 win.
Arsenal are in need of some inspiration at the moment after their recent performances.
In that run of six, their two wins came against Preston in the Carabao Cup, in which a much-changed side came out 3-0 winners, and a 1-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League that accompanied a very underwhelming performance.
their play in recent seasons has been dynamic and fluid, with Saka and Odegaard leading the charge, however in the absence of the skipper things have not been quite so venomous.
Three red cards have also not helped the Gunners’ cause, but there will be hopes that the Norwegian’s return can inspire an upward trajectory both on the pitch and in the table.
But just as one key player comes back into the fold, doubts have been raised over Rice’s fitness for the game after he was left out of the team to travel to Milan in midweek.
It is understood Rice has suffered a broken toe. The blow will be assessed in the next 48 hours but the Gunners boss is ready to make a late decision on the availability of his key midfielder.
The severity of the problem is such that Rice could yet play in the game at Stamford Bridge, particular given the magnitude of the game following a run of three league matches without victory.
