Chelsea v Arsenal: Ozil performance needed

Mesut Ozil – metro.co.uk

Arsenal were rightly ripped apart for their performance in their 4-0 thrashing at Liverpool at the end of August. The start they’ve had though depends largely on their aspirations. They have negligible chance of winning the title, which is the one thing the majority of fans want to see.

Putting aside the Anfield debacle though, Arsenal haven’t played too badly. They scored seven goals in home encounters with Leicester and Bournemouth and should have at least drawn at Stoke, where Olivier Giroud missed a sitter and Alexandre Lacazette had a goal wrongly ruled-out.

Lacazette has had an excellent start to the season with two goals already. Fellow addition Sead Kolasinac has also impressed early on, changing the game in Thursday’s 3-1 win over FC Koln.

The first team players will need to be fully fit at Chelsea, who put in a sturdy team performance at Tottenham in the second week. Antonio Conte nullified the threats of the opposition by congesting the middle of the pitch with three central midfielders – four if we count Willian and five counting N’Golo Kante twice.

They are not suffering without Nemanja Matic to the extent that many feared and Tiemoue Bakayoko perhaps brings more pace and dynamism to the equation.
Alvaro Morata has also had a good start, with three goals in four Premier League appearances. His form is in some ways unfortunate for Michy Batshuayi, who impressed in the Champions League against Qarabag and has perhaps merited more game time.

Ex-Gunner Cesc Fabregas is likely to be the main man creating for Morata while Mesut Ozil will have to take up that role. If he plays, Sunday will be his big opportunity to prove that he can perform in big games, because his body language at Liverpool seemed questionable. He does though have a unique knack of finding the right pass in tight areas and his job should be to find spaces behind Victor Moses and bring Kolasinac into the game.

Many will predict more doom for Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, where they have not picked up a single point since the famous 5-3 in 11/12. However, the Gunners do have a habit of putting in a performance when it’s least expected.

The Football Lab’s Verdict: 1-1