Mark Lawrenson is expecting a tight game when Chelsea travel to face Arsenal at the Emirates this evening.
The BBC pundit is highly anticipating Romelu Lukaku’s debut for the Blues but, after the Gunners lost their season opener, he anticipates the home side will try to make things difficult for their London rivals by sitting back:
“It is going to be interesting to see how Chelsea’s new £97.5m striker Romelu Lukaku fits into their side, and whether Arsenal can stop him. Mikel Arteta has not taken charge of many Gunners games in front of a full stadium and, the last time he did, he wasn’t under the same pressure he is facing now.”
“We don’t know which strikers Arteta has available, but I think he will be cautious anyway rather than trying to have a real go at Chelsea. What he doesn’t need in his situation is to lose two consecutive matches, especially to two London clubs, which I always think makes it worse.”
Lawrenson has gone for a 1-1 draw, which is a surprising prediction considering the form of the two teams heading into the match.
Arsenal were pretty woeful in the 2-0 defeat to Brentford on the opening day while, in contrast, the Blues recorded a comfortable home victory against Crystal Palace.
When you also consider the fact that Gunners boss Mikel Arteta could be without some key players due to injuries and positive virus tests, Chelsea’s opponents are likely to field a weakened team. Despite what Lawrenson says, Tuchel’s men will be favourites to get the three points today.
