Arsenal continues to lead the way in the Premier League, sitting six points clear of nearest challengers Manchester City. The Gunners also progressed through to the fourth round of the FA Cup, with a 4-1 victory against Portsmouth at Fratton Park. Attention now turns to the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, where Mikel Arteta’s team face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. In the quarter final, Arsenal defeated Crystal Palace 8-7 on penalties. Can Liam Rosenior’s team upset high-flying Arsenal? Or will the red half of North London be too much for their London rivals? Here is our Arsenal predicted lineup.
Arsenal Predicted Lineup & Team News vs Chelsea
How Arsenal Have Lined Up Recently
Arsenal have a packed January schedule, and have so far ground out a tough 3-2 away at Bournemouth, before a relatively dull 0-0 draw against Liverpool. That draw was followed by the Gunners’ 4-1 away win against Pompey.
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In the FA Cup third round, Arsenal lined up in their familiar 4-3-3 formation. Kepa started in goal, with Ben White, Christian Norgaard, Gabriel, and Myles Lewis-Skelly completing the defence. In midfield, Arteta selected Mikel Merino, Ethan Nwaneri, and Eberechi Eze. In the wide areas, it was Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli supporting Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus.
Arsenal Team News
In the pre-match press conference, Arteta gave the latest injury updates regarding Piero Hincapie and Ricardo Calafiori: “Those two [Hincapie and Calafiori] are not available yet and the others that we have are Willie [Saliba] and Leo [Trossard].”
“Those two are a doubt,” said Arteta regarding Saliba and Trossard.
The Gunners boss also gave the latest on the availability of Max Dowman and Cristhian Mosquera:
“[Max] is very similar to [Cristhian] Mosquera as well. Very similar injuries, very similar timeframes and both evolving really well. But they’re not training yet so they’re still a few weeks away.”
Arteta also reflected on the return of Kai Havertz against Portsmouth, discussing how important the German is:
“Obviously, we missed him a lot. A year is a long time in football but as you said, the way he’s come back, he looks really fit, really confident. He’s such an intelligent player that straight away he is someone who connects with the players really naturally, and you can tell how much they love him as well, because every time he was in and around the box, everyone was jumping on their seats on the bench. So yeah, we are so happy to have him, he’s going to help us so much, and now we have to keep him fit.”
