LONDON, April 23 — Arsenal will try to extend their slim Premier League lead and continue putting pressure on Manchester City and Liverpool when they host Chelsea in a massive London derby today.
The Gunners may catch a break if Chelsea’s Cole Palmer can’t recover from an illness in time to contribute to the Blues’ effort.
With Manchester City and Chelsea contesting their FA Cup semifinal over the weekend, Arsenal (23-5-5, 74 points) regained the top spot with a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
With a goal from Leandro Trossard late in the first half and another from Martin Odegaard deep in second-half stoppage time, it was only the third time in 13 EPL matches in 2024 that the Gunners have scored without a goal or assist from Bukayo Saka.
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Liverpool won at Fulham the next day to pull even with Arsenal on points. But the Gunners lead on goal difference, and Manchester City are only a point back with a match in hand on both.
If Chelsea’s position down in ninth place suggests today’s challenge should be relatively straightforward, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insists otherwise.
The Blues (13-10-8, 47 points) were arguably the better side in their 1-0 semifinal defeat to Manchester City based on their chances created. Chelsea’s expected goals for and against — a measure of the quality of chances a team creates and allows — suggest they should be fourth in the table directly beneath the title chasers.
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“Huge improvements,” Arteta said. “I think they deserve to be in a much higher position in the league when you look at what they’ve done and what they’ve produced in games — they’ve reached a final, they’ve reached a semifinal, they could have been through.”
However, Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino isn’t sure whether Palmer will play after Palmer missed training yesterday due to an illness.
The winger, whom the Blues signed from Manchester City last summer, has become their most important attacking player. After scoring four times in Chelsea’s last league match, a 6-0 drubbing of Everton at home, Palmer is now level with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland for the Premier League scoring title with 20 goals.
“We need to assess (Tuesday) morning,” Pochettino said of Palmer, who has an astonishing 10 goals and three assists in his past six league games. “Today, I don’t believe he can be involved because we need to assess him and then decide.” — Field Level Media via Reuters
