The eagerly anticipated 2018/19 Premier League season exploded into life last weekend with a full round of fixtures. Matchday two sees one of the biggest clashes in the English football calendar as Arsenal travel across London to face Chelsea.

STATS

• It was a campaign to forget for Chelsea last time out as they were forced to settle for Europa League football on the back of a disappointing 5^th-place finish. However, after swapping Antonio Conte for Maurizio Sarri, they started the new season in the perfect way with a 3-0 win over Huddersfield last Saturday.
• Arsene Wenger bowed out after over two decades with Arsenal on a negative note as his side ended the season in 6^th, leaving them with Europa League football like their upcoming opponents. Unai Emery came in over the summer to replace the Frenchman and he struggled to inspire his new side to an opening day win as they were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City at home.
• With question marks over Alvaro Morata’s quality in the number nine role, Chelsea’s three goals last week came from midfield as N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Pedro got on the scoresheet.
• After failing to net against Man City last Sunday, a partnership between Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang needs to be built up to give Arsenal a chance of top four.

HEAD TO HEAD

Meetings between Arsenal and Chelsea certainly can’t be described as boring with goals, cards, controversy and entertainment in every clash. The Blues have dominated recent fixtures with seven wins in the last 12 matches with the Gunners with Arsenal winning just once. Their last win at Stamford Bridge was back in 2011 as a Robin van Persie hat-trick led them to a 5-3 win. Both teams have scored just twice in the last 10 meetings.

CHELSEA NEWS

After being introduced from the bench against Huddersfield, Eden Hazard is expected to start on Saturday. The only notable absence for the hosts is Cesc Fabregas who isn’t fit to face his former side.

Latest matches: Chelsea FC

11.08.2018	Prem	Huddersfield Town	Chelsea FC	0:3	W
07.08.2018	Inte	Chelsea FC	Olympique Lyon	5:4	W
05.08.2018	Comm	Chelsea FC	Manchester City	0:2	L
01.08.2018	Inte	Arsenal FC	Chelsea FC	7:6	L
28.07.2018	Inte	Chelsea FC	Inter Milan	6:5	W

ARSENAL NEWS

The visitors need to show much more resolve than they did last week if they want to come away from West London with any points. They have an injury crisis at left-back with Nacho Monreal, Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles all unavailable, they join Laurent Koscielny on the physio table.

Latest matches: Arsenal FC

12.08.2018	Prem	Arsenal FC	Manchester City	0:2	L
04.08.2018	Club	Arsenal FC	Lazio Roma	2:0	W
01.08.2018	Inte	Arsenal FC	Chelsea FC	7:6	W
28.07.2018	Inte	Arsenal FC	Paris St Germain	5:1	W
26.07.2018	Inte	Atletico Madrid	Arsenal FC	4:2	L

SUMMARY

With home advantage and a tendency to always beat Arsenal at the Bridge, Chelsea go into Saturday’s match as favourites under the guidance of their new boss. The Gunners are extremely unpredictable so they have a chance of returning to the Emirates with all three points but the hosts should have too much quality for them.