Chelsea vs Arsenal, Premier League 2018-19: What time is kick-off today, what TV channel is it on and what is our prediction?
What is it?
Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea face Unai Emery's Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in their second game of the new Premier League season.
When is it?
It's today, so Saturday, August 18, 2018.
What time is kick-off?
The London derby gets under way at 5.30pm.
What TV channel is it on?
The game will be shown live and exclusively on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport 4K UHD. Build-up gets under way at 5pm after the conclusion of BT Sport Score which covers the three o'clock kick-offs.
What is the team news?
Chelsea
Star player Eden Hazard came off the bench during Chelsea's comfortable opening weekend victory at Huddersfield, and should be fit enough to start after his World Cup exertions with Belgium.
Ross Barkley is expected to keep his place alongside N'Golo Kante and Jorginho in midfield, with Cesc Fabregas carrying a knee injury and Mateo Kovacic still short of minutes.
Arsenal
Emery has decided to stick with former Chelsea No.1 Petr Cech in goal rather than summer signing Bernd Leno.
The Arsenal head coach's first big decision is who to start at left-back. First-choice Nacho Monreal is back in full training but has not played a minute of pre-season, so it might be a risk to throw him in at Stamford Bridge. Back-ups Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley-Maitland Niles have medium-term injuries, so it may be that Stephan Lichtsteiner plays on the wrong side.
Lucas Torreira and Alexandre Lacazette impressed from the bench against Manchester City last Sunday, and are in contention to start and stiffen Arsenal's spine.
What are they saying?
Maurizio Sarri:
"We have to move the ball faster. We did it better in the second, there was more space and time.
"It was a really hard for us. We were not ready to their situation, for us it was a problem. This team has not the experience against, maybe for the Naples it was not a problem.
"For Chelsea some players have only just arrived. We are lucky now because we can work with one match a week.
"We have to improve in this month, then it might be difficult with the national teams. I hope in this month to improve the team.
"The difference from the physical it is different. I am very happy because in the first part of the season for us it is not easy to gain points.
"The first half was hard. If you look at the result you can think of an easy game. We were in trouble for 15 minutes against a physical team, we are not a physical team.
"The best capacity was to suffer, but then I think the second half maybe they were tired."
Sarri puff
Unai Emery:
“We didn’t lose [against Manchester City] because of our personality, our idea, our style. We didn’t lose for that.
"We lost on other things, we can improve on other things, tactics, improve for our learning on the next match.
"But also, we are building our style because we think it’s the best way, to have the control on each match, to find the best way to win.
“It’s clear that when you lose, it’s a bad result. When you win, it’s a good result. For me, this is the resilience I am explaining.
"It makes me resilient, when you win, when you lose, it must be consistent, you must stay regulated, keep thinking positively every day. You need to take the positive things out of the game to build our identity.”
Best-priced accumulators | New customer offers
What are the best odds?
Chelsea 4/5
Arsenal 7/2
Draw 3/1
What's our prediction?
These sides played out two 0-0 draws at Stamford Bridge last season, when Chelsea and Arsenal's 3-4-3s cancelled each other out. This game ought to be more open as both teams look to take more risks with their pressing and build-up play. The fact both are under new managers suggests there might be a few errors, which is typically good news for the neutral. Arsenal have had the measure of Chelsea recently, losing one of their last eight meetings in all competitions - by far their best head-to-head record against a member of the Big Six.
Verdict: Chelsea 2 Arsenal 2
