Football commentary on Arsenal vs Chelsea, make-up match for round 29 of Premier League 2023/24 at 02:00 on April 24 – force information, expected lineup, form, confrontation history. Arsenal needs to continue winning to compete for the top spot, and will try to take advantage of Chelsea’s mental decline after their recent defeat to Man City in the FA Cup semi-finals to get what they want.

Comments before the match Arsenal vs Chelsea

Arsenal recovered very well after being eliminated from the Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Wolves, thereby temporarily rising to the top of the 2023/24 Premier League rankings. Mikel Arteta’s teachers and students understand that they cannot lose any more points when the remaining road is very difficult, while Man City’s journey is much easier. If they defeat Chelsea in the round 29 make-up match, they will be 4 points ahead of Man City. Although playing 2 more matches, that also puts a bit of pressure on the opponent. During the chase, they must take advantage of every advantage to hope for a miracle to happen.

As for Chelsea, it’s hard to expect magic. After being eliminated from the FA Cup , the only door to bring the Blues back to Europe is through the Premier League. It’s just that the gap of 13 points with the 5th ranked team is too big when they only have 7 matches left. Decreased motivation and morale may occur. Not to mention the performance of the West London team has never been perfect. The days of them being dominant in London derbies are over.

Form and history of confrontation between Arsenal and Chelsea

The last time they traveled to the Emirates, Chelsea lost 1-3 thanks to a goal from Gabriel Jesus and a double from Martin Odegaard. That was 1 of 3 defeats in the past 4 confrontations of the Blues against Arsenal. In the Premier League alone, Arsenal has only lost 1/8 of its most recent matches against Chelsea, and is creating a 3-match winning streak, the longest since 2005. Overall, the Gunners have a better head-to-head record when they win. 82/208 matches, while the Blues only had 66 wins.

In the 2023/24 Premier League, Arsenal is the 3rd best home team in the tournament, collecting 38/48 maximum points (12 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses). On the contrary, Chelsea played away from home quite poorly, earning only 19/45 points (winning 5, drawing 4, losing 6). In addition, the loss to Aston Villa in round 33 was the only loss in the Gunners’ last 13 Premier League matches (11 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss). As for The Blues, they have only won 4/10 past matches in England’s top tournament. They also drew their last 3 away matches.

One feature to note is that confrontations between Arsenal and Chelsea often have many goals. 8/11 recent meetings between the two teams had at least 3 goals scored.

Arsenal vs Chelsea force information

Jurrien Timber is the only absent player due to a serious knee injury in his debut match. Takehiro Tomiyasu is likely to play in the left-back position, Leandro Trossard takes a spot on the front line and Jorginho and Kai Havertz are eager to play against their old team.

On Chelsea’s side, Pochettino denied that star Cole Palmer was injured, Christopher Nkunku, Robert Sanchez and Levi Colwill are all about to return but are unlikely to play. In addition, Malo Gusto and Ben Chilwell are absent, along with Reece James, Lesley Ugochukwu, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia on long-term leave.