Arsenal host Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow as they look to record their first Premier League win over the Blues in five years.
The Gunners have also failed to find the back of the net against Chelsea in their last six league encounters.
Arsenal come into this weekend’s clash off the back of consecutive wins over Southampton and Hull City in the league, a hard earned draw away to PSG and a comfortable 4-0 win in the league cup over Nottingham Forrest.
Meanwhile Chelsea have suffered a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Liverpool last week.
N’Golo Kante v Mesut Ozil
One of the most exciting duels going into the Arsenal v Chelsea derby weekend will be between N’Golo Kante and Mesut Ozil. A key feature of Arsenal’s build up play takes place between Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil.
The Germany international is tasked with finding space between the lines in order to carve out opportunities for the forwards. Cazorla’s job is to feed the ball to Ozil from a deeper position in midfield.
However, Antonio Conte will be looking to put a cap on Ozil’s creativity by deploying Kante as a defensive midfielder. The France international’s best attributes are clearly his tackling ability athleticism, and marking. All of those strengths will be key to nullifying the threat posed by Ozil.
It remains to be seen whether Arsene Wenger opts to field Ozil out wide in order to free him from the shackles of Kante but it is shaping up to be a fascinating duel.
If the France international is able to stop Ozil in his tracks, Arsenal may resemble the side which was outclassed by Liverpool on the opening day of the season.
