Mesut Ozil vs. N’Golo Kante the Key Duel in Arsenal vs. Chelsea

Moving rapidly from one glamour tie to another, Chelsea may already be feeling the effects of the seasonal grind of football. They prepare to face Arsenal this weekend on the back of two big tussles—first, a Friday Night Football loss to Liverpool, followed by an extra-time victory over Leicester City in the cup—as the games continue to come thick and fast.

The Gunners enjoyed a decidedly easier warm-up to this contest, beating Nottingham Forest 4-0 and flexing their squad-depth muscles in the process after scoring another four last weekend against high-flying Hull City. While they will hardly expect to move from eight goals in two games to 12 in three, they’re in better physical and mental nick than Antonio Conte’s Blues.

For Arsene Wenger, this game represents a huge chance to reset the record on his and his team’s season so far. The Frenchman has traditionally struggled against top-tier tacticians and Conte is one of them; the two times Wenger has faced such tacticians this season—in Jurgen Klopp and Unai Emery—he has lost and drawn.

Arsenal

Wenger has options aplenty in midfield despite Aaron Ramsey’s enforced absence due to injury. Granit Xhaka’s back-to-back impressive showings have him knocking on the first-team door, and Mohamed Elneny represents a safe pair of hands too, but Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla have been the first-choice combination and could well take to the pitch as a pair again.

Alexis Sanchez has ranged from good to bad in volatile fashion since being installed as the central striker, and with Olivier Giroud still a fitness question mark, the Chilean may be forced to go again up top. Theo Walcott has made progressive, hardworking steps over the past few weeks and seems to have shut Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain out of the team, while Alex Iwobi, when fit, has regularly been given a chance to play from the left.

The defence picks itself, though Nacho Monreal’s indifferent start to the season may have Kieran Gibbs hopeful of a starting spot here. Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny have slowly been melding as a pair.

Chelsea

Conte has a number of big decisions to make in the wake of an up-and-down week in charge of Chelsea, with John Terry’s place in the side front and centre among them. Is he fit? If so, does he slot back in and force David Luiz back to the bench? Or would Terry partner Luiz and leave Gary Cahill in the cold?

Cesc Fabregas’ brace against Leicester City has strengthened his claim for a first-team spot, with Oscar or Nemanja Matic both under threat from him. Willian hasn’t convinced in every appearance he has made either, though the chances of …

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