Chelsea vs Arsenal: Enzo Fernandez vs Declan Rice and two more key battles to look out for in crunch clash

Posted on by Vikram Jajuha

Mauricio Pochettino and his Chelsea side face their toughest test of the season so far as they welcome Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal to Stamford Bridge where they’ll look to overcome an Arsenal side that currently remain unbeaten in the Premier League, so far this season.

Chelsea are currently unbeaten in their last three games with their last win coming away at Burnley where the Blues bagged four.

Here are three compelling and gripping battles on the pitch that we think you should keep a close eye out for…

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Enzo Fernandez vs Declan Rice

With, both players costing a combined £200m plus, this may well be the biggest and most crucial battle on the pitch. It’s not been the best of starts to the season for Enzo Fernandez where his quality hasn’t been so visible the past few games but these are the matches where big players perform. These are the ones where the big players show their worth and when you compare the hype and media attention around both players, it’s certainly a battle that should live up to its potential.

Everyone in football is aware of Declan Rice’s ability – both on and off-the-ball. His leadership qualities, physical presence and versatility leaves no surprise as to why Arsenal went all out for him as their summer marquee signing. He’s settled quite seamlessly into Arteta’s side which shouldn’t come as much surprise, considering his experience already in the Premier League.

However, it will be no easy battle coming up against Fernandez. More license to play higher up the pitch since the arrival of Moises Caicedo, should serve for an even tastier encounter between the two. Pochettino will certainly be looking at the Argentinian to get on the ball and dictate proceedings.

If Chelsea get anything from this game, then you would assume majority of the chance creation will have come from Fernandez.

Malo Gusto vs Gabriel Martinelli

This will most definitely be the biggest test Malo Gusto has faced since arriving at Chelsea, up against the trickery and unpredictability of Gabriel Martinelli, who already has 3 goals/assists in the league this season. There’s been a lot of talk around the availability of Reece James and whether he should start but that’d certainly be too big of a risk worth taking and wouldn’t help the confidence of Gusto, who has performed better than most would’ve expected.

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When you consider the likelihood of Cole Palmer playing on the right-wing as an inverted-winger coming inside, you’d assume Gusto will be making those overlaps to help supply attacks and create overloads down the right flanks but the likelihood of that happening throughout the game will be very interesting when you consider the pace and threat on the counter that Martinelli’s shown over the years.

The question is whether Pochettino will allow Gusto to bomb forward more than not – to provide that threat down the right flank or have him sit a little deeper in possession and tightly marking Martinelli which would then decrease the likelihood of the Frenchman being exposed by Martinelli on the counter.

Most Chelsea fans would agree that Gusto, defensively, has been quite solid. Struggle to really recall a winger who has managed to get the better of him 1v1 often so it’ll be a very intriguing battle.

As long as he doesn’t get wrongly get sent off again as he did against Aston Villa…

Raheem Sterling vs Ben White

Raheem Sterling was brilliant against Burnley in our last game and has been excelling all season, when you look back to his performance against West Ham and Luton too. Pace, agility and low centre of gravity is what we missed from the experienced international last season where his performances led to boos from sections of match-going Chelsea fans.

Up against Ben White, however, will be another test who has been stalwart defensively over the years. Sterling will absolutely have to be on his A-game to get the better of White 1v1. Physically, not many players in world football would get the better of White, so I’d certainly expect to see Sterling staying high and wide, receiving the ball facing goal so he can run at White and cause him problems with his agility and sheer pace.

However, this season he has been rejuvenated in a system where he’s been able to get on the ball in high, wide areas with the freedom to run at defences. Currently on three goals in the Premier League this season but performances alone will tell you that he is *maybe* getting back to his best of his days at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola.

Written by Vikram Jajuha (@CFCVik)

Edited by Harrison Burridge (@hburridge2)

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