As teams have faded away from the Premier League title race, Arsenal have opened quite a lead atop the league, where they lead Manchester City by four points while having a game in hand. But are their closest competitors also in London? Chelsea trail the Gunners by six points with the two meeting on Sunday, and with Enzo Maresca getting the best out of young players around the squad, Chelsea will have a massive opportunity at Stamford Bridge, where they already knocked off Barcelona during Champions League play midweek.
How to watch Chelsea vs. Arsenal, odds
- Date: Sunday, Nov. 30 | Time: 11:30 a.m. ET
- Location: Stamford Bridge — London, England
- TV: USA
- Odds: Chelsea +240; Draw +220; Arsenal +125
Estevao shone during that game, scoring a goal, and without Cole Palmer for yet another game, if the Blues are to get a result, they’ll need more from him alongside the midfield that has been powered by Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo to keep Arsenal off the ball. With Eberechi Eze finding his form in the center of Mikel Arteta’s attack, the Gunners have been able to pull out results no matter who is in the XI, even handing Bayern Munich their first loss in all competitions during their own Champions League disappointment.
Arsenal’s defense has been the best in the Premier League, only allowing six goals in 12 matches, but Chelsea are catching up after winning their last three league matches and not allowing a goal in any of them. As we reach the festive period, these are two deep teams who want to separate themselves from the pack, but they have the slight quirk of needing to get past each other.
Maresca may not want to talk about the title, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not significant.
“It’s too early in any case if we win or don’t win [against Arsenal],” Maresca said ahead of the match. “It’s November, there’s five or six months to go. It’s important where we are [in the table] in February and March and we’ll see if we can achieve something important.”
Plenty have tried to take down the Gunners, and the Blues will be the latest to sign up for the task. While they did defeat Barcelona, there’s more for Chelsea to prove since they were up a man for most of that game. Get past Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, and there will be no denying their title credentials as they’ve continued to build under Maresca.
Taking part in the Club World Cup, while it did give the Blues a condensed offseason, it also gave them time to gel, integrating new signings like Estevao, Joao Pedro, and Liam Delap. All three have helped get Chelsea to where they are now, and more will be expected to keep pushing them forward. A loss won’t derail that progress, but a win can help give Chelsea additional confidence that maybe they can close the gap atop the table by the new year, providing a proper title race.
