Arsenal fans will be in for another tough test as their team will now have to lock horns with another big six side early on in the season. The Gunners already took on Manchester City, the reigning Premier League champions on opening day and ended up on the wrong end of a 2-0 score-line, and now Unai Emery will face another major challenge as his side prepare to face fellow London rivals Chelsea.
By contrast, fellow new manager Maurizio Sarri will be feeling a tad better after seeing his side cruise to a very comfortable 3-0 rout over Huddersfield on matchday one. It was the perfect response Chelsea needed after losing 2-0 in the Community Shield to Manchester City and having a less-than-impressive pre-season since the ex-Napoli boss took over earlier this summer.
Emery will stick with Petr Cech despite the veteran shot-stopper receiving some criticism from some quarters, and even despite German outfit Bayer Leverkusen's clearly desperate effort to have their own ex-player, Bernd Lerno feature instead by posting a cringeworthy attempt at humor on Twitter at Cech's expense. The Spanish tactician clearly is trying to emulate City's style of playing out of the back and it will naturally take some time to take effect.
Meanwhile, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be tasked with leading the line and will hope to open his account, as it will help the ex-Dortmund man reach a personal milestone. Should he score against Chelsea, it would mark his 150th goal across all of Europe's "Big 5" leagues, having spent time also plying his trade in France's Ligue 1.
As for Chelsea, Cesc Fabregas is unlikely to feature against his former club due to a minor injury, but Eden Hazard could feature from the start. New signing Mateo Kovacic, however, is not yet fully match fit, but could be involved after he didn't make the 18-man squad for the fixture against Huddersfield.
De wedstrijd is afgelopen. Hieronder is de originele live uitzendinformatie voor deze wedstrijd.
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