Gabriel Jesus Arsenal
Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus playing for Brazil

Arsenal have let the Premier League title slip out of their hands and things could get worse when they face Chelsea in midweek.

The Gunners had to beat Manchester City to hold onto the top spot on the table but they went to the Etihad and were humbled 4-1 loss. Next up, they have a London derby against the Blues and given how poor Chelsea have been this season, Arsenal will be looking to get back to winning ways on Tuesday.

The North London side were in peak form for all of the season but they are suddenly without a win in their previous four matches and these nine dropped points are hurting them really badly.

On paper, the Gunners should win this one easily but their confidence is severely dented so there’s every chance they will stumble in midweek. If City win their games in hand then they will take the top spot which means Arsenal have to win against Chelsea just to make sure the pressure remains on Pep Guardiola’s team.

Arsenal’s team news against Chelsea:

The Gunners have only a few injuries but the problem is that Mikel Arteta is working with a very small squad this season. Tomiyasu and Elneny are both out until the summer but Arsenal haven’t missed them.

However, William Saliba is also ruled out with a lower back injury and this is a major cause of concern for Arteta. The defender has been one of the best players this season and his absence is affecting the team’s balance.

Rob Holding is Saliba’s replacement and in all fairness, he did pretty well against Manchester City but it’s Gabriel who had a really poor outing.

Ben White was another poor performer last week but with Tomiyasu unavailable, Mikel Arteta does not have a backup on the right-hand side.

Jorginho has failed to become a first-team regular since joining from Chelsea and on Tuesday, he will be on the bench once again.

Because Arsenal have such a small squad, Mikel Arteta cannot afford to make any major changes and in the front line, the only change that is likely is Trossard coming in for Gabriel Jesus.

Jesus is yet to find peak form since returning from injury so it won’t be a surprise if Leandro Trossard leads the line against Chelsea.

Arsenal predicted line up vs Chelsea:

Predicted starting line up(4-3-3): Ramsdale; Ben White, Gabriel, Holding, Zinchenko; Partey, Odegaard, Xhaka; Martinelli, Jesus/Trossard, Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal predicted line up vs Chelsea - Premier League 22/23