{"id":630910,"date":"2023-10-21T06:17:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T10:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=630910"},"modified":"2026-01-30T15:47:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:47:37","slug":"vital-arsenal-beat-rejuvenated-chelsea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/10\/21\/vital-arsenal-beat-rejuvenated-chelsea\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Elite&#8217; and &#8216;Important&#8217; Stars Give Vital Tactical Flexibility for Arsenal to Beat a Rejuvenated Chelsea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Arsenal face Chelsea in a massive clash at Stamford Bridge in their first game back after the international break. This match is huge for both sides, with Mikel Arteta\u2019s men trying to extend their unbeaten league record, whilst Mauricio Pochettino will hope his side can pick up a result at home to Arsenal for the first time in three seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">[metabet_core_side_odds_tile query=&#8221;soe\/arsenal&#8221; size=&#8221;350&#215;300&#8243; site_id=&#8221;lastwordonsports&#8221;]<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">How Arsenal Win Away at Stamford Bridge<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Arsenal Cannot Underestimate How Good Chelsea Are<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Chelsea may be sitting in 11th place in the Premier League table with a record of three wins, one draw and three losses from eight games &#8211; but their upturn in form before the international break will have provided the Stamford Bridge club plenty of optimism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Read More:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/10\/08\/arsenal-emile-smith-rowe-transfer-decision\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2018Wants And Needs To Play\u2019: Fabrizio Romano Clarifies Speculation Over Future Of \u2018Superb\u2019 Arsenal Star<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Their impressive form before the international break shows they are slowly clicking and will be a force to be reckoned with &#8211; and Arsenal must make sure they come out firing against this potentially dangerous Chelsea side.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Arteta will be hoping Saka and William Saliba are fit after they both missed international duty for England and France respectively. Both players had outstanding games in this fixture last year when the Gunners were at their peak in the autumn months.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Watch:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">MASSIVE TITLE FIGHT \u2013 Can Arsenal Grab the Premier League from Man City?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"MASSIVE TITLE FIGHT - Can Arsenal or Spurs Grab the Premier League from Man City?\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0nrq775JRoA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Continuing Defensive Solidity Away From Home is Vital<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If Arsenal want to beat a Chelsea side that create chances &#8211; they will need to be solid in defence. So far this season, the Gunners have been solid away from home, conceding zero goals, including at Crystal Palace when they were down to 10 men &#8211; for some of the second half.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Read More:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/10\/12\/arsenal-ivan-toney-january\/\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Arsenal Linked With Imminent Transfer For \u2018Remarkable\u2019 Star, Player Is Keen On The Move<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Back in the squad and ready for selection after injury is Thomas Partey, who has previously been described as &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/ghanasoccernet.com\/arsenal-legend-praises-important-thomas-partey-as-gunners-fight-for-premier-league-title\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">important.<\/a>&#8221; If Arteta chooses to utilise him in the No. 6 position ahead of Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, then Declan Rice will be free to push up into the left No. 8 position. Or, if the Gunners choose to play with increasing caution in a big away game, they could play Rice alongside Partey in a pivot. This idea was seen in Arsenal\u2019s last fixture when\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.arsenal.com\/news\/jorginho-influential-infant-italian-icon\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jorginho<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0started alongside Rice in the battle of control in both midfield engine rooms. The added security demonstrated the North Londoner&#8217;s strength in depth. This time last year, there was no Jorginho or Rice for Arteta to choose from, and Partey was relied upon to a tiresome level.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Option to Start the Dynamic Attack of Last Season for the First Time<\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For a side that is unbeaten in the league and missing out on top spot by goal difference, it is a surprise that they have not managed to start their first-choice front three of Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Saka in the league this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Read More<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">:\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/10\/14\/arsenal-quinten-timber-transfer-links\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2018A Very Good Talent\u2019: Fabrizio Romano Gives Update on Arsenal Links to \u2018Very Important\u2019 Star\u2019s Brother<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Injuries have hampered Arteta\u2019s attacking options, with Jesus requiring surgery in pre-season and returning just as Martinelli injured his hamstring. Saka was then ruled out of the game against Man City. But now, the option to play all three from the start is a mouth-watering proposition for the Gunners. The trio that propelled Arsenal to a title charge last year will be vital to gaining a result at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal will be hoping Saka is fit to start this London derby after\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/arsenal-fc\/news\/arsenal-full-squad-revealed-chelsea-27953228\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mikel Arteta<\/a>\u00a0confirmed the England international was &#8220;working so hard to be fit for this game.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Chelsea will be hoping Saka described as &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2023\/jun\/19\/gareth-southgate-praises-elite-saka-after-hat-trick-sinks-north-macedonia\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">elite<\/a>&#8221; isn\u2019t fit from the start. If the Arsenal and England international starts, the Chelsea defence &#8211; will have to be at their best to contain him.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal face Chelsea in a massive clash at Stamford Bridge in their first game back after the international break. This match is huge for both sides, with Mikel Arteta\u2019s men trying to extend their unbeaten league record, whilst Mauricio Pochettino will hope his side can pick up a result at home to Arsenal for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4865,"featured_media":629626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11,3],"tags":[32739,32738,4211,4372,3276],"class_list":["post-630910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-chelsea","category-premier-league","tag-arsenal","tag-arsenal-fixtures","tag-bukayo-saka","tag-mikel-arteta","tag-thomas-partey"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4865"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630910"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":664091,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630910\/revisions\/664091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}