Stamford Bridge Stadium: Difficult for away team Arsenal

This is the first time in history that Unai Emery and Maurizio Sarri have faced each other. Meanwhile, the last two matches at Stamford Bridge ended in a draw and no goals were scored.

In general, in the last 6 matches on all fronts, Arsenal won 1 match, the remaining 5 were draws. The two teams just drew 1-1 in the friendly match of ICC 2018 on August 2.

In the Premier League, Chelsea won 3-0 against Huddersfield in the opening match of the season while Arsenal lost 0-2 to Man City at the Emirates in the opening match.

Similarities

Arsenal and Chelsea have a lot in common this season. Both London clubs have just changed managers, are playing in the Europa League instead of the Champions League, and are aiming to return to the top 4 in the Premier League.

The opening games of the season will help both managers decide their priorities for the first season. In fact, few teams can compete in the Europa League and also aim to finish in the top four of the Premier League.

If they continue to fail in the London derby on August 18, the pressure on coach Emery will be huge. Photo: Internet

In the 2015/16 season, Liverpool competed for the championship with Sevilla, but had to pay the price of finishing 8th in the domestic league. A year later, MU won the Europa League, but fell to 6th in the Premier League.

Since Unai Emery was appointed to replace Wenger early, the 46-year-old captain had more than 2 months to "refresh" Arsenal. He had 3 new contracts: Stephan Lichtsteiner, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Lucas Torreira. The "Gunners" had a very good preparation in the friendly matches: drawing 1-1 with Atletico Madrid, destroying PSG 5-1.

Emery and his team had a great start and were completely ready for the new season by defeating Chelsea to win the 2018 International Champions Cup after a nerve-wracking penalty shootout (the 2 regular periods ended in a 1-1 draw).

In the match against Man City last weekend, coach Emery caused a shock when he left two new players, midfielder Lucas Torreira and goalkeeper Bernd Leno, on the bench. This was a match where Arsenal's midfield was completely "off" against Man City players, midfielder Granit Xhaka played very poorly, and Matteo Guendouzi made many mistakes in his first Premier League debut.

In goal, goalkeeper Petr Cech also lacked confidence and often made mistakes when handling the ball with his feet. Arsenal fans have reason to worry when coach Emery declared that he still trusts Petr Cech when facing Chelsea.

Difference in class and experience

In the context of not being able to buy a creative midfielder, Arsenal had to choose the option of officially extending the contract with Mesut Ozil and raising the German player's salary to 300,000 pounds/week.

Coach Emery believes he will know how to “renew” Mesut Ozil, the favorite player of Coach Wenger. Coach Emery hopes that the German player, along with Mkhitaryan and Ramsey, will face the 3-man midfield in the 4-3-3 formation of the team at Stamford Bridge.

Arsenal extended Mesut Ozil's contract and raised his salary to £300,000/week right before the London derby. Photo: Internet

Meanwhile, Antonio Conte's "beheading" was predicted in advance, but due to compensation issues, it was not until early July that Chelsea fired Conte and appointed Maurizio Sarri as his replacement.

Because of this, Sarri himself did not have much time to prepare for the new season like when he was working at Napoli. The only thing he had time to do was bring along Brazilian midfielder Jorginho, his favorite student at Napoli.

Joining Stamford Bridge, the 59-year-old coach inherited a squad that included players with a lot of experience in the Premier League such as Cahill, Fabregas, and David Luiz.

The home team's midfield has world-class names such as Kante, Hazard, Willian and many young talents such as Ross Barley, Danny Drinkwater, Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The most regrettable thing is probably that midfielder Cesc Fabregas is at risk of not being able to play in the London Derby against Arsenal due to a knee injury.

In the opening match, Jorginho scored strongly, playing like a "boss" on the pitch. He participated in most of Chelsea's attacks and had the highest pass completion rate on the pitch (93.9%).

This season, Kante has been given a new role, no longer a sweeper in the midfield but a right-sided midfielder in a 4-3-3 formation. The Frenchman has adapted very quickly and seems to enjoy being allowed to play more offensively. Immediately, the 27-year-old midfielder opened the scoring for Chelsea against Huddersfield.

After losing to Man City, Coach Emery and his students had to face Chelsea with the determination not to lose. If they continue to lose in the London derby on August 18, the pressure on Coach Emery will be huge because he will easily be left behind by the "big six".