Arsenal vs Chelsea Preview

With the new season just a weekend away, these two teams face off in a plastic derby to see who will have the first bragging right ahead of their league match up.

Arsenal are a team in transition after Arsene Wenger’s 22 years reign came to an end, and Unai Emery would be looking to get his players ready to win trophies as he has done over the past five seasons at Sevilla and PSG.

The Gunners have an advantage over their other top six rivals as most of their players are well-rested, either because they were not selected or were eliminated from the World Cup early.

The likes of Mesut Ozil, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, and Alexandre Lacazette have all been available for pre-season so far, so Emery would hope they have been taking to his style of play ahead of their opening game.

The Gunners beat PSG 5-1 in their last game – that result came after they lost on penalties to Atletico Madrid and they would be hoping to end their International Champions Cup spell on a high with a win here.

Chelsea also have a strong squad, with the likes of Alvaro Morata, David Luiz, and Rose Barkley all not being selected for the World Cup.

Despite having a good set of players, the Blues could not beat Inter Milan inside regulation time in their last game. They went on to win that game in a penalty shootout.

Chelsea have won just two of their last 11 International Champions Cup games in normal time, and six of those matches have ended in losses.

Chelsea will meet Arsenal on the 18th August in the Barclays Premier League so although this is a friendly game, much can be learned from both sides ahead of their EPL clash.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Arsenal

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Boreham Wood		0-8		Arsenal	14 Jul, 2018	Friendly
W	Huddersfield Town		0-1		Arsenal	13 May, 2018	English Premier League
L	Leicester City		3-1		Arsenal	9 May, 2018	English Premier League
W	Arsenal		5-0		Burnley	6 May, 2018	English Premier League
L	Atletico Madrid		1-0		Arsenal	3 May, 2018	Europa League

Chelsea

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Perth Glory		0-1		Chelsea	23 Jul, 2018	Friendly
W	Chelsea		1-0		Manchester United	19 May, 2018	English FA Cup
L	Newcastle United		3-0		Chelsea	13 May, 2018	English Premier League
D	Chelsea		1-1		Huddersfield Town	9 May, 2018	English Premier League
W	Chelsea		1-0		Liverpool	6 May, 2018	English Premier League

H2H

LAST FIVE GAMES					DATE	COMPETITION
Arsenal		2-1		Chelsea	24 Jan, 2018	English Carabao Cup
Chelsea		0-0		Arsenal	10 Jan, 2018	English Carabao Cup
Arsenal		2-2		Chelsea	3 Jan, 2018	English Premier League
Chelsea		0-0		Arsenal	17 Sep, 2017	English Premier League
Arsenal		1-1		Chelsea	6 Aug, 2017	English FA Community Shield