Can Arsenal continue their unbeaten streak at Stamford Bridge?
The Gunners will make the seven-mile trip across the capital on Sunday, currently unbeaten in six away games against Chelsea, winning three of them, despite having lost eight of their previous ten Premier League fixtures at the Bridge; how times have changed.
Well, already this week, Mikel Arteta’s team have comprehensively beaten both Tottenham and Bayern Munich at home, and a victory on Sunday would move them nine points clear of the Blues at the top of the Premier League table.
So, if the Gunners are to beat another fierce rival, Arteta should unleash his attacker labelled “better than Bukayo Saka”.
Leandro Trossard latest injury news
Just when Arsenal were starting to get some attacking players back from injury, another could be heading for the treatment room.
38 minutes into Wednesday’s win over Bayern Munich, Leandro Trossard suffered a knock and was forced to come off.
Speaking in his press conference on Friday, Arteta said that “we’ll have to see” if the Belgian will be available this weekend, noting that he has avoided serious injury, but has not trained since the match.
Losing Trossard would be a major blow, considering he has already scored five goals and registered five assists across all competitions this season, most recently breaking the deadlock in last weekend’s North London derby.
However, does Arteta have a ready-made replacement, one who will be particularly raring to face Chelsea?
The attacker Mikel Arteta must start vs Chelsea
Arsenal do remain without Viktor Gyökeres, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, but Arteta is now going to have some attacking options from which to choose once again.
Both Martin Ødegaard and Gabriel Martinelli made their returns off the bench in mid-week, while Noni Madueke has been introduced as a substitute in each of the last two matches, scoring his first goal for the club against Bayern Munich, connecting with Riccardo Calafiori’s cross at the back post.
Before being introduced for a late cameo against Spurs, Madueke hadn’t been seen since 21 September when Manchester City drew in North London, sustaining a knee injury that day, which was a real blow because he had been really bright up until that point.
Back in September, the winger also scored his first goal for England, on target as the Three Lions demolished Serbia 5-0 in a World Cup qualifier at the Marakana in Belgrade.
After the match, former Manchester United defender Paul Parker asserted that “I actually think he’s better than Bukayo Saka”, a bold take, but let’s compare the pair in the Premier League last season to test this hypothesis.
Goals
0.4
0.4
Assists
0.2
0.6
Shots
2.6
2.2
Shots on target %
56%
56%
Chances created
1.4
3
Big chances created
0.26
1.1
Big chances missed
0.6
0.4
Completed take-ons
2
2.2
Take-on success %
49.45%
52.56%
Touches
47.4
56.8
% of touches in box
18.48%
16.54%
Average rating
7.03
7.60
As the table documents, Saka does come out on top for the vast majority of metrics, but Madueke’s numbers are largely comparable across the board, superior in some key areas too.
The 23-year-old attempts more shots and registers a higher percentage of his touches in the opposition penalty area, underlining that he might just be more of a goal threat, with Saka excelling as the creator.
Also, Madueke’s direct running and fearlessness could be exactly what Arteta’s team need in this game, hoping to give Reece James, Malo Gusto or whoever else Enzo Maresca might deploy at right-back nightmares.
Having been cast aside by Chelsea in the summer, told he was surplus to requirements, Madueke will surely be ultra-motivated to show his former employers what they passed up on, so could he write his name into Arsenal folklore?
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