Chelsea have really had Arsenal’s number over the last decade or so.
Since the Invincibles season of 2003/04 (in which the Blues eliminated the Gunners from the Champions League), Arsenal have beaten Chelsea just five times from their 29 meetings.
Arsene Wenger’s men host Antonio Conte for the first time on Saturday evening as both sides are looking to keep pace with current runaway leaders Manchester City.
For Chelsea, there are no surprises. Cesc Fabregas returns to face the club he used to captain while professional villain Diego Costa looks to wreak havoc on the Gunners once more. Brainislav Ivanovic deputises as captain with John Terry out.
But for Arsenal, there are some unusual choices.
Despite two long-range goals in his last two games, £32m summer signing Granit Xhaka starts the game from the comfort of the home bench where he will be joined once more by French striker Olivier Giroud who has yet to start a game since losing the Euro 2016 final to Portugal back in July.
Former Chelsea stalwart Petr Cech starts in goals for the Gunners while Laurent Koscielny captains the side once more in the absence of Per Mertesacker, as Shkodran Mustafi starts in the centre of Arsenal’s defence.
Both teams are in – and here's the #AFCvCFC teamsheet pic.twitter.com/e8XEPC4pMM
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) September 24, 2016
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