The tactical battle in Chelsea vs. Arsenal fixtures is always intriguing because of the differing styles of the two clubs: Chelsea are usually cautious and reactive, Arsenal aggressive and proactive. The usual pattern is simple: Arsenal dominate possession, Chelsea score more goals.
But Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger finally recorded a victory over Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho in last month's Community Shield, and Arsenal should therefore have great confidence going into this game.
This is the first time this season that Mourinho and Wenger have been forced to cope with midweek football ahead of a weekend Premier League game, and while the results were different -- Chelsea beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Arsenal lost at Dinamo Zagreb -- both managers rotated heavily ahead of a Saturday lunchtime kickoff. It means team selection will be particularly interesting.
Chelsea
Mourinho will be mulling over his tactical options following consecutive league defeats to Crystal Palace and Everton. Chelsea's team selection is usually entirely predictable, particularly for big games, but Mourinho has a number of concerns this weekend -- injuries to key men, experienced players struggling, and dangerous opposition attackers who might need special attention.
Chelsea returned to winning ways with their 4-0 victory over Maccabi Tel-Aviv, but the quality of the Israeli opposition was extremely poor, and it's difficult to take too many lessons from the win.
The most intriguing part of Mourinho's team selection, however, was at full-back. Baba Rahman made his debut at left-back, which allowed Cesar Azpilicueta to switch to his more natural position -- albeit one he's rarely played with Chelsea -- on the right of defence. And, most significantly, Branislav Ivanovic was dropped to the bench. In a catastrophic start to Chelsea's campaign, the Serbian right-back has clearly been the most woeful performer, failing to recover from struggling badly against Swansea's Jefferson Montero on the opening day of the campaign.
This is a particularly key position, because Chelsea's right-back will be up against Arsenal's most dangerous forward, left-sided Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean is surprisingly yet to register a goal in the Premier League this season, but has taken the most shots in the division without finding the back of the net, and hitting the post twice against Stoke last weekend. Chelsea need a good one-on-one defender against him, and that's surely Azpilicueta rather than Ivanovic.
That would mean Rahman starting for the first time in the Premier League -- and it's not like Mourinho to throw a 21-year-old full-back into a big game. But this is surely preferable to exposing Ivanovic to Sanchez's runs. And besides, with Arsenal likely to field Aaron Ramsey on the right, Rahman won't be up against a direct winger or wide forward.
Mourinho's next problem is on the right flank, where both Pedro Rodriguez and Willian are unavailable. The two options here are Ramires, more of a box-to-box midfielder, and Loic Remy, more of a forward. Mourinho, of course, is always likely to take the more defensive option, which means Ramires getting the nod.
Nemanja Matic hasn't been in good form, but John Obi Mikel wasn't particularly impressive alongside him last weekend at Everton. It seems unlikely Mikel will start again, but Mourinho will be reluctant to drop Cesc Fabregas into that deep position against a playmaker as spatially aware as Mesut Ozil. Mourinho, who got the best out of the German at Real Madrid, knows better than anyone the need to deny him space.
Therefore, could Mourinho push Kurt Zouma into midfield? The Frenchman was sometimes deployed there in big games last season when Mourinho wanted a solid defensive performance, and while his long-term future is likely to be in defence, it could make sense here.
Gary Cahill would rekindle his partnership with John Terry at the heart of the defence, which would mean a deep defensive block ahead of reserve goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. This is likely to be a defensive, counterattacking performance from Mourinho's men.
Arsenal
Wenger's regular decision towards the end of last season, and the start of this one, is whether to use Olivier Giroud or Theo Walcott up front. They're polar opposites of one another, almost the complete centre-forward split in half. One offers height and hold-up play, the other offers pace and mobility.
Walcott was in pole position to start this weekend, even before Arsenal's 2-1 midweek defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, but his second-half goal -- and Giroud's early red card -- means the English forward clearly deserves his place at Stamford Bridge. Besides, he's generally played well against Chelsea, whereas Giroud has often struggled to make an impact. Walcott's pace will mean Chelsea's defence playing very deep.
Sanchez and Ozil are surefire starters in their usual positions, and Wenger's main concern will be the centre of midfield. Workable partnerships seem to be Mikel Arteta alongside Ramsey, or Francis Coquelin alongside Santi Cazorla. A Coquelin-Ramsey combination doesn't quite have enough guile, while Arteta and Cazorla looked too flimsy together in the midweek Zagreb defeat. It's difficult to see Coquelin excluded, considering his ball-winning skills, which means Cazorla alongside him in the middle, and presumably Ramsey again pushed out to the right.
Or does it? Ramsey doesn't like playing on the right, and his use in that position is arguably the most obvious compromise in the system Wenger has found himself playing over the past six months. The Welshman hasn't managed a goal or assist in his last nine Premier League appearances, and is struggling to consistently influence games.
It would be a bold decision to drop Ramsey, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is surely pushing for a place. He scored an unfortunate own goal in Zagreb, but more crucially scored the winner in Arsenal's 1-0 Community Shield victory over Chelsea at Wembley last month, and could be the perfect player to give Rahman a stern defensive test on his first Premier League start.
In defence, Wenger will surely revert to the Spanish duo of Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin after Kieran Gibbs and Mathieu Debuchy were given a Champions League run-out in midweek. Bellerin played excellently against Eden Hazard in a 0-0 draw at the Emirates in April, and is likely to stick tight to the Belgian.
That might mean space opening up in the inside-left channel for Diego Costa, and this will be Gabriel's most difficult test in Arsenal colours so far. An aggressive, proactive, physical centre-back, this all-Brazilian battle could be the most intriguing of the game, and could have a huge bearing on the result.
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