FA Cup finalists Chelsea will look to return to winning ways at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday as they seek to dent the hopes of a top-four Premier League finish for Arsenal.
Thomas Tuchel’s side reached the FA Cup showpiece on Sunday at Wembley as goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount gave them a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
But now they have the challenge of ending a run of defeats at home turf, having already lost in April at Stamford Bridge to Brentford in the league and Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
Arsenal have their own losing streak to end having seen their form crash since the start of the month, with defeats to Crystal Palace, Brighton and Hove Albion and Southampton.
Mikel Arteta’s men have fallen to fifth in the table but can move back level with fourth-placed Tottenham if they pick up the three points at their London rivals.
The Bridge beckons for #CheArs! 👊 pic.twitter.com/M1evV0lh1m
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 20, 2022
Sporting News will be following all the action from Stamford Bridge with regular updates
Chelsea vs. Arsenal score
1H | 2H | Final | |
Chelsea | – | – | – |
Arsenal | – | – | – |
Goals (Assist):
12th min – Arsenal – Nketiah (no assist)
16th min – Chelsea – Werner (Loftus-Cheek)
Chelsea vs. Arsenal live updates and highlights
16 minutes: GOAL!!!! 1-1
Well that did not last long. Chelsea are level four minutes later as Timo Werner’s shot is deflected past Aaron Ramsdale by Xhaka. Disappointing for Arsenal as they had just got the lead and they were caught in possession deep in their own half.
12 minutes: GOAL!!! 1-0 ARSENAL
Dream start for Arsenal and it is a real gift. Eddie Nketiah runs on to an underhit back pass from Andreas Christensen and he keeps his cool to fire home.
11 minutes: First real sight of goal for Lukaku as he gets away on the right but he drags his shot across the goal and well wide.
10 minutes: To say Arsenal fans are enjoying Chelsea’s predicament in not being able to sell tickets to home fans who are not season ticket holders would be an understatement. “There is nobody here” they sing in what seems to be a non-stop chant designed to mock their opponents.
7 minutes: Nice move from Arsenal as no one tracks Gabriel’s run after he is found by a floated pass by Granit Xhaka and Edouard Mendy does well to kick the shot away with his legs.
5 minutes: Chelsea with the early pressure and Marcos Alonso has a shot deflected wide from close range after Arsenal fail to deal with a corner convincingly, and from the following corner Gabriel has to be alert to head clear from underneath his own bar from Mount’s flag-kick.
2 minutes: There are a few empty seats to be seen at Stamford Bridge, an unusual sight normally for a London derby. But this is due to Chelsea only being able to allow in season ticket holders, and Arsenal fans, due to the sanctions they are currently under.
KICK OFF: We are under way at Stamford Bridge.
10 minutes to KO: The teams are back in their respective dressing rooms and getting ready for the start. Just a reminder of what is at stake. Both sides have work to do still to get a top-four finish.
Chelsea on 62 points in third place have more breathing space but Arsenal in fifth place on 54 points really must get at least a draw, or ideally all three points.
Three points will get them back level with fourth-placed Tottenham. Barring a crazy goal glut they will not overtake Spurs due to the better goal difference of their rivals, but with the teams still to play each other, it would leave Arsenal’s top-four destiny in their own hands still.
20 minutes to KO: It was fitting that Mount was one of Chelsea’s heroes on Sunday, scoring the second goal in the 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final.
The England star has been key to Chelsea’s success this season. He leads their attacking statistics with 10 goals and eight assists and he has created 41 chances over the course of the season. Arsenal will need him to have a quiet night if they are to prevail you’d expect.
30 minutes to KO: The build-up on UK television is well under way with Sky Sports previewing the game. Arsenal great Paul Merson, who was part of the 1989 and 1991 sides that won the title, is among the pundits and he believes it is critical they get something out of tonight for their top-four ambitions.
“A point at least is what they need,” Merson said. “If they do that then it is still in their own hands and that is all you can ask for.”
40 minutes to KO: The teams will be out warming up shortly. Smith Rowe is back in the Arsenal line-up and he was the hero 11 months ago when he struck the only goal of the game in the Gunners’ 1-0 success at Stamford Bridge.
It was Arsenal’s first win at Chelsea in 10 years and they have enjoyed a good run of form of late there, with only one loss in their last four trips to their London rivals.
55 minutes to KO: Now we have Chelsea with Tuchel making four alterations from the team that reached the FA Cup final at Crystal Palace’s expense on Sunday.
Malang Sarr, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Lukaku are all in with Antonio Rudiger, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz the men to drop out of the line-up.
Your Chelsea team news tonight! 🔵#CheArs pic.twitter.com/q5y8IKHLiA
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 20, 2022
60 minutes to KO: We have the Arsenal team for tonight. Three changes from the side that lost at Southampton with Rob Holding, Mohamed Elneny and Emile Smith Rowe coming in for Cedric Soares, Sambi Lokonga and Gabriel Martinelli.
🚨 TEAM NEWS
🏴 Nketiah leads the line
🇪🇬 Elneny joins the midfield
🏴 Holding comes into the back-line🙌 COME ON ARSENAL#CHEARS pic.twitter.com/IOfpc8Cx1q
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 20, 2022
70 minutes to KO: Not long now until the teams are announced but Arsenal will be wearing black armbands tonight. That is in memory of Steve Rowley, who worked for the club between 1980 and 2017, with his most notable role being as chief scout for the club after Arsene Wenger arrived at the club in 1996.
Rowley died on Sunday at the age of 63 after a short illness and Arsenal are planning a further tribute for him at Saturday’s home game with Manchester United.
75 minutes to KO: The sides met on the second weekend of the season back in August in the reverse fixture with Chelsea cantering to a 2-0 win thanks to first-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Reece James.
Arsenal were in crisis then as that was two defeats in a row to start the campaign. Not a lot has changed then, with so much hanging on tonight’s game for Mikel Arteta’s side.
90 minutes to KO: It feels an eternity ago since Chelsea were last in Premier League action. Well it wasn’t that long ago of course, but a lot has happened since the Blues trounced Southampton 6-0 on April 9.
Their UEFA Champions League reign ended despite a heroic 3-2 win at Real Madrid as they lost 5-4 on aggregate, before they reached their third FA Cup final on the trot on Sunday by beating Crystal Palace 2-0.
So, what is at stake for them in the league? Mathematically they can still win the title but for that to happen they need to win all eight remaining fixtures and have Liverpool and Manchester City both hit terrible form.
More realistically they will want to sew up a top-four spot as soon as possible with an eye on resting players ahead of the FA Cup Final with Liverpool on May 14.
Four wins would guarantee third spot and automatic qualification for the group stages for 2022/23 and Thomas Tuchel will want them to start that run tonight.
👋 We’re here, Gooners
📍 Stamford Bridge
🔜 #CHEARS pic.twitter.com/HvodQ83jU0
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 20, 2022
100 minutes to KO: Arsenal must wish that they could press rewind and start April again. When they left the field on March 19 after winning 1-0 at Aston Villa it looked like they were well on track for a top-four finish and a return to the UEFA Champions League for the 2022/23 season.
But injuries to Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney appear to have damaged Arsenal’s momentum and they were trounced 3-0 at Crystal Palace on the return to the international break before losing 2-1 at home to Brighton and then 1-0 at Southampton on Saturday.
From being in a strong position suddenly they must win tonight simply to get back on level terms with fourth-placed Tottenham with both sides having six games to go. Sounds easy, right? Got a feeling Chelsea might have something to say about that scenario.
🚨 MATCHDAY!
🆚 Chelsea
🕒 7.45pm (UK)
🏆 Premier League
🏟 Stamford Bridge #CHEARS pic.twitter.com/GpI5G4N7EN— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 20, 2022
Two hours to KO: Not long now until the action at Stamford Bridge gets under way. Arsenal are desperate to end a run of three defeats in a row that has severely dented their hopes of finishing in the top four.
Three points would get them back level with fourth-placed Tottenham with six games to go each, but that is of course easier said than done against a Chelsea side who will be full of confidence after reaching their third successive FA Cup final on Sunday when they defeated Crystal Palace 2-0.
We will have team news in around an hour’s time, which will give insight into how respective bosses Thomas Tuchel and Mikel Arteta plan to tackle this.
How to watch Chelsea vs. Arsenal
UK | USA | Canada | Australia | |
Date | April 24th | April 24th | April 24th | April 25th |
Time | 7.45 p.m. BST | 2.45 p.m. ET | 2.45 p.m. ET | 5.45 a.m. AEST |
TV channel | Sky Sports Main Event | Universo | DAZN | Optus Sport |
Streaming | NOW TV | fuboTV/NBCSports.com | DAZN | Optus Sport |
In the US, televised Premier League games are also available on fuboTV, which also offers a free trial to new subscribers.
In Canada, every Premier League game streams live on DAZN.
Chelsea vs. Arsenal predicted lineups
Romelu Lukaku will be back in contention for the Blues, having come off the bench in the FA Cup semi-final after his return from an Achilles injury. Callum Hudson-Odoi will miss out as he continues his recovery from a similar knock, while Mateo Kovacic is sidelined with an ankle problem sustained against Palace.
Ross Barkley will hope to be available, but Ben Chilwell remains out with a cruciate ligament injury.
Chelsea predicted lineup (3-4-1-2): Mendy (GK) — Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger — James, Kante, Jorginho, Alonso — Mount — Havertz, Werner.
As for the visitors, Alexandre Lacazette is hoping to return after missing their clash away to Southampton due to private reasons. Right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu could be fit again following a muscular injury and will be assessed late.
Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey are out, with both expected to miss the run-in.
Arsenal predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale (GK) — Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tavares — Xhaka, Lokonga — Smith Rowe, Odegaard, Saka — Lacazette.
MORE: Zack Steffen’s FA Cup mistake for Manchester City gifts Liverpool a goal in Wembley semifinal
Chelsea vs. Arsenal betting odds
Chelsea will go into this one as slight favourites, having produced some improved attacking displays in recent times. Timo Werner looks to be hitting a hot streak and may prove to be the difference-maker if chances come his way.
Arsenal will also be looking to find their feet in front of goal once again, with the potential return of Lacazette perhaps crucial to any chance of the Gunners getting a result. On examination, this could be a high-scoring affair, with Chelsea keen to sew up Champions League qualification as soon as possible and Arsenal desperate to stay in the race.
UK (Sky Bet) |
USA (DraftKings) |
Canada (Sports Interaction) |
|
[Home] Win | 17/20 | -105 | 1.87 |
Draw | 5/2 | +255 | 3.38 |
[Away] Win | 10/3 | +295 | 3.73 |
Over 2.5 Goals | 1/1 | +100 | 1.95 |
Both Teams to Score | 4/5 | -130 | 1.78 |