Arsenal vs Chelsea Match Analysis and Prediction

London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea will begin their preparations for the 2017–18 Premier League season when they meet in a pre-season friendly at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Sunday with kickoff at 3 am.

The Gunners maintained their 100 percent record in pre-season with a 3-1 victory against MLS outfit Orlando City on Thursday.

Arsenal cancelled out Gabriel Martinelli’s opener on the half-hour mark, but Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson struck after half-time to clinch victory for Mikel Arteta’s side in Florida.

The Gunners began their pre-season with a 5-1 win over Ipswich Town and an entertaining 5-3 victory over Nuremburg in Germany earlier this month, before securing a 2-0 success against Everton in Maryland last weekend.

Summer signing Gabriel Jesus did not feature against Ipswich but has since scored three goals in as many games for the club, including a brace on his non-competitive debut against Nuremburg.

Meanwhile, Chelsea followed up last weekend’s 2-1 win over Club America with a 5-3 defeat on penalties against MLS side Charlotte FC after they played out a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes.

USA international Christian Pulisic opened the scoring for the Blues on the half-hour mark and they seemed set to secure a slender win, before substitute Daniel Rios scored a dramatic 92nd-minute equaliser for the hosts from the penalty spot after a foul conceded by Trevoh Chalobah.

Arsenal vs Chelsea Head to Head

Both sides have 40 games against each other with hosts taking 14 wins while visitors with 19 wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:

Home

• Orlando City 1-3 Arsenal
• Arsenal 2-0 Everton
• Nurnberg 3-5 Arsenal
• Arsenal 5-1 Everton

Away

• Charlotte 1-1 Chelsea
• Club America 1-2 Chelsea
• Chelsea 2-1 Watford
• Chelsea 1-1 Leicester City

Arsenal Team News

Arsenal midfielder Fabio Vieira joined the club from Porto this summer with a foot injury but recently returned to training and could start against Chelsea. Arsenal are unlikely to play midfielder Emile Smith Rowe or Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney due to injury, but all three could feature in the coming weeks.

Chelsea Team News

Chelsea are set to be without a number of first-team players on Sunday, including Timo Werner (hamstring), Ross Barkley (hamstring) and Cesar Azpilicueta (knock). Kepa Arrizabalaga and Kalidou Koulibaly did not play in Thursday’s friendly against Charlotte due to injury and it is unclear whether they will make their debuts against Arsenal.

Prediction and Odds

Tuchel and Arteta will both view this London derby as a useful exercise against challenging opposition before turning their attention to competitive action next month.

• Chelsea Win
• Both Teams to Score
• Goals Over 1.5