6 hours ago
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A reminder of the teams before they take the field
Chelsea (4-1-2-3ish) Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo; James, Enzo; Estevao, Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto.
Subs: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Tosin, Badiashile, Andrey Santos, Palmer, Gittens, Garnacho, Delap.
Arsenal (4-1-2-3ish) Raya; Timber, Mosquera, Hincapie, Calafiori; Zubimendi; Eze, Rice; Saka, Merino, Martinelli.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Lewis-Skelly, White, Odegaard, Norgaard, Nwaneri, Madueke, Gyokeres, Jesus.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
The updated Premier League table
Today’s Premier League results
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Aston Villa 1-0 Wolves
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Crystal Palace 1-2 Man Utd
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Nottm Forest 0-2 Brighton
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West Ham 0-2 Liverpool
Ed Aarons
Mikel Arteta is confident the best is to come from Declan Rice as Arsenal prepare for their top-of-the-table showdown at Chelsea.
The England midfielder was outstanding in Arsenal’s victories against Tottenham and Bayern Munich over the past week and will face the club where he spent seven years before being released aged 14. Arsenal lead second-placed Chelsea by six points and Arteta has not lost at Stamford Bridge in six visits as a manager.
Arteta signed Rice from West Ham in 2023 and said even he had been surprised by the 26-year-old’s progression since the £105m move. He was asked whether he thought Rice had reached his peak.
“Probably yes, a year or two ago, yes,” Arteta said. “But now being with him every single day and understanding and connecting with him in the way that I’ve done, we’re going to get more. Because he wants more and he’s going to get more. The team knows him better, his role is growing around the team, the impact that he has on the team is huge and we’ll find ways to make it even better.”
Jacob Steinberg
The worst way for Chelsea to respond to their demolition of Barcelona would be to believe the hype. The problem is that emotions in football swing from one extreme to another, as the people running things at Stamford Bridge have quickly come to appreciate.
They have faced plenty of ridicule for their alternative approach since buying the club from Roman Abramovich three years ago, so perhaps they are entitled to be a little sceptical now that Chelsea are being praised for their transfer strategy and talked up as potential title challengers before hosting Arsenal on Sunday.
Team news
Cole Palmer is on the bench for Chelsea, who make one change from the win over Barcelona: Joao Pedro replaces Alejandro Garnacho.
Arsenal’s William Saliba was injured in training and is replaced by Piero Hincapie. Gabriel Martinelli and Riccardo Calafiori come into the team for Leandro Trossard and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Chelsea (4-1-2-3ish) Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo; James, Enzo; Estevao, Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto.
Subs: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Tosin, Badiashile, Andrey Santos, Palmer, Gittens, Garnacho, Delap.
Arsenal (4-1-2-3ish) Raya; Timber, Mosquera, Hincapie, Calafiori; Zubimendi; Eze, Rice; Saka, Merino, Martinelli.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Lewis-Skelly, White, Odegaard, Norgaard, Nwaneri, Madueke, Gyokeres, Jesus.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Preamble
Hello, good day and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of Chelsea v Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Big game, this. If Arsenal win, the title race will have the unsatisfactory* whiff of a done deal. Right now they are the best team in England, arguably Europe.
Not that Chelsea are far behind: they drilled Barcelona 3-0 on Tuesday – and that was without Cole Palmer, who will return in some capacity today. If all that wasn’t saliva-inducing enough, these clubs don’t love one another. It’s been a while since they put the needle on the record; given the stakes – low in the grand scheme, high for the end of November – today could be the day.
Kick off 4.30pm.
* To everyone but Arsenal fans
