Chelsea vs Arsenal preview | Confirmed team news | Expected Line-ups | Prediction

Chelsea will be looking to cement their place in the top four when they take on Arsenal at Stamford Bridge this evening.

The Blues head into the game sitting fourth in the table – six points ahead of West Ham and two behind Leicester – so a win would move them up to third and put Thomas Tuchel’s side on the verge of securing Champions League football next season.

Chelsea will be full of confidence after beating newly-crowned Premier League champions Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday just days after booking their place in the Champions League final.

Arsenal on the other hand head across London looking to end a dismal campaign on a positive note. The Gunners crashed out of the Europa League following a semi-final defeat to Villarreal while they sit ninth in the Premier League table.

Victory at Stamford Bridge would move Arsenal up to eighth and to within just one point of seventh-placed Tottenham but all their rivals would have at least one game in hand so Mikel Arteta’s side are likely to miss out on European qualification.

Team news

Chelsea will once again be without Mateo Kovacic as the midfielder is still nursing a thigh injury that’s hampered him for the past month.

Andreas Christensen is also out of the game tonight after suffering a tendon injury against City at the weekend but otherwise Tuchel has a fully-fit squad to choose from.

Arsenal will be without the services of David Luiz as he’s not over a hamstring injury yet. Granit Xhaka is also a doubt due to a groin injury that he sustained earlier this month.

Pablo Mari is back in training after recovering from an ankle injury but Emile Smith Rowe is a doubt after suffering a thigh injury during the 3-1 win over West Brom on Sunday.

Expected line-ups

Prediction

Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal: The Gunners have a poor recent record in this fixture as they haven’t won any of their last eight Premier League trips to Stamford Bridge [L6 D2] so Chelsea will be the firm favourites tonight.

Arsenal did win the reverse game 3-1 earlier in the season while Frank Lampard was in charge of Chelsea but the Blues have looked impressive since Tuchel arrived. The West Londoners have kept seven clean sheets in their eight home games under the German and we predict another shut-out this evening.

Arsenal desperately need a positive result but we think Chelsea will be too strong and predict a routine 2-0 home win.