Arsenal vs Chelsea | Premier League | Pre Match
Arsenal vs Chelsea
Arsenal’s title aspirations for the 2024-25 Premier League season appear to be hanging by the thinnest of threads, with their chances of clinching the coveted trophy now reduced to a mere 0.6% following a dismal run of form that has seen them fail to secure a victory in any of their last three league outings. This stuttering sequence has not only all but extinguished their hopes of catching up to the runaway leaders, Liverpool, but has also allowed the chasing pack below them to close the gap, putting additional pressure on Mikel Arteta’s squad as they prepare to face a resurgent Chelsea side at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. However, with Liverpool not in Premier League action this weekend due to scheduling quirks, a win over Chelsea would provide Arsenal with a golden opportunity to trim the deficit at the top of the table to 12 points—a significant reduction, though still a daunting challenge given their recent struggles. The Gunners’ inability to capitalize on key moments in recent matches has been a frustrating hallmark of their campaign, and the upcoming clash against their London rivals represents a critical juncture for Arteta to steer his team back toward respectability in the league standings. Despite the bleak outlook, there remains a flicker of hope among the Arsenal faithful, who are desperate to see their side rediscover the clinical edge that had earlier promised so much, only to falter as the season has progressed into its decisive stages.
While their domestic form has faltered, Arsenal received a much-needed morale boost in midweek with a commanding performance in the Champions League, where they secured their place in the quarter-finals with an emphatic 9-3 aggregate triumph over Dutch outfit PSV Eindhoven, setting up a blockbuster showdown with reigning champions Real Madrid. The first leg of that tie, a resounding 7-1 victory at the Emirates, showcased Arsenal at their scintillating best, with their attacking prowess and defensive solidity combining to devastating effect—a stark contrast to their recent Premier League displays. The second leg, played on Wednesday, saw a heavily rotated Arsenal side twice relinquish the lead in a 2-2 draw, but the result was little more than a formality given the cushion provided by their earlier heroics. This European success has injected a sense of optimism into the camp, offering a reminder of the heights this team is capable of reaching when firing on all cylinders. Arteta will now be tasked with translating that continental swagger into domestic consistency, a challenge made all the more pressing by their shock 1-0 defeat to West Ham United in their last Premier League home game—an unexpected stumble that marked their first league loss at the Emirates this season. That setback snapped an impressive run of resilience on home soil, and Arsenal have not suffered consecutive Premier League defeats at home since April 2022, a statistic that will provide some solace as they look to avoid a repeat against Chelsea. Historically, the Gunners have also never lost back-to-back London derby matches at the Emirates in the competition, with their last such occurrence coming in the 2005-06 season at Highbury, when they fell to both Chelsea and West Ham—a record Arteta will be keen to preserve as he plots a path to redemption.
Chelsea, Arsenal’s opponents on Sunday, arrive at the Emirates buoyed by a recent upturn in fortunes, having notched consecutive Premier League victories at Stamford Bridge against Southampton (4-0) and Leicester City (1-0)—results that suggest Mauricio Pochettino’s side may finally be finding their rhythm after a turbulent spell. These two wins match the total number of victories Chelsea had managed across their previous 10 league games, a run that included three draws and five defeats, highlighting the inconsistency that has plagued their season. However, their current streak of two clean-sheet wins hints at a growing solidity, though they have not secured three consecutive league victories without conceding since March 2022—a feat they will aim to achieve against Arsenal. Despite this newfound momentum, Chelsea’s away form remains a glaring weakness, with their last four league wins all coming on home turf. Their most recent away success, a thrilling 4-3 triumph over Tottenham Hotspur in early December, now feels like a distant memory, as they have since lost each of their last three road games—a tally that matches their defeats in the previous 19 away matches combined. This stark contrast between home and away performances will be a source of concern for Pochettino as he prepares his team to face an Arsenal side desperate to capitalize on any vulnerability. Adding to Chelsea’s challenges is the ongoing goal drought of star forward Cole Palmer, who has failed to find the net in his last seven Premier League appearances, a barren run spanning 683 minutes and including 29 shots since his last strike against Bournemouth in January. Even his midweek cameo in Chelsea’s 1-0 Conference League win over Copenhagen, which secured their place in the quarter-finals, yielded no breakthrough, extending his dry spell to 10 matches across all competitions—a troubling statistic for a player once seen as a key cog in their attacking machine.
The historical context of this fixture only adds further intrigue, as Arsenal have enjoyed a strong record against Chelsea in recent Premier League encounters, remaining unbeaten in their last six meetings (W4 D2)—their longest such streak against the Blues since an impressive 19-game run between 1995 and 2005. Delving deeper, the Gunners have claimed victory in six of their last nine league clashes with Chelsea (D2 L1), a marked improvement from the preceding period between 2004 and 2020, when their six wins were scattered across 32 games (D10 L16). At the Emirates, Arsenal’s dominance has been particularly pronounced, with Chelsea losing their last two away league games against their rivals, including a humiliating 5-0 thrashing in this fixture last season—a result that still lingers in the memory of both sets of supporters. The Blues last endured three consecutive away league defeats to Arsenal between 2001 and 2003, a precedent they will be eager to avoid repeating. The reverse fixture this season, played at Stamford Bridge in November, ended in a tense 1-1 draw, with Pedro Neto’s equalizer canceling out Gabriel Martinelli’s opener—a result that underscored the competitive nature of this rivalry, even if neither side could claim bragging rights on that occasion. For Arsenal, the challenge now is to harness their historical edge and recent European momentum to overcome a Chelsea side that, while improving, remains fragile on the road—a combination that could yet keep their faint title hopes alive, if only for another week. As the Emirates prepares to host this latest chapter in a storied London derby, the stakes could not be higher for Arteta and his men, who know that anything less than a victory could consign their Premier League dreams to the realm of mathematical improbability.
