Arsenal vs Chelsea: Cesc Fabregas starts against former club with no Granit Xhaka or Olivier Giroud for Gunners
Arsenal are unchanged from their 4-1 win over Hull with Chelsea making just one switch
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Your support makes all the difference.Cesc Fabregas will face his former side Arsenal after being recalled by Antonio Conte for the Premier League encounter, having impressed during Chelsea's midweek 4-2 victory over Leicester City in the EFL Cup.
Fabregas scored twice in extra-time to secure the win, and his reward is a place in a midfield three that also includes Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante, meaning there is no room for Oscar.
The rest of Conte’s side remains unchanged from last Friday’s 2-1 loss to Liverpool, while Arsenal show no changes from the 4-1 win at Hull last Saturday, meaning there is no place for Granit Xhaka or Olivier Giroud in the starting line-up. Both are named on the bench, with Xhaka scoring two long-range efforts in the space of a week while Giroud has missed thel last two matches with a toe injury.
Arsenal have not beaten Chelsea in the Premier League for nearly five years, with their sole victory during that period coming in last season’s Community Shield. Even though the Blues endured the worst season ever recorded by a defending top flight champion last season, they still did the double over the Gunners with wins both home and away.
The image of John Terry fist-pumping towards the Chelsea fans towards the end of Chelsea’s title-winning 2014/15 season also remains raw in the memory of the Emirates faithful, but with Wenger’s side unbeaten in five – four wins and a draw against Paris Saint-Germain is not a bad return – there is optimism that this could finally be the time for Arsenal to get one other their London rivals.
Despite a strong start to the season, Chelsea have faltered with a 2-2 draw with Swansea followed by a laboured performance in the 2-1 defeat by Liverpool. With Terry still absent, David Luiz and Gary Cahill must continue to try and develop a partnership that has failed since the Brazilian’s return, although in Diego Costa they have a striker who relishes facing Arsenal with his record of two goals in three appearances barely telling the story.
The Brazilian-born Spain international has been involved in red cards for Gabriel Paulista and Per Mertesacker over the two league encounters last season, while Santi Cazorla was also dismissed at Stamford Bridge to see Arsenal reduced to nine men.
If Arsenal are to have any chance of success this afternoon, they can ill-afford to fall foul of the referee, Michael Oliver, once again, although Chelsea have never lost a match when Oliver has been the man in charge in their 13 encounters together.
Teams
Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Cazorla, Walcott, Özil, Iwobi, Sanchez.
Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Holding, Xhaka, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Perez, Giroud
Chelsea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Kante, Matic; Willian, Fabregas, Hazard; Costa.
Subs: Begovic, Alonso, Oscar, Pedro, Moses, Batshuayi, Chalobah
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