Chelsea head to London rivals Arsenal in an enthralling Saturday tea-time kick-off tomorrow looking to get back to winning ways following a 1-2 loss to Liverpool last Friday.
Going to extra-time but beating Leicester City for extra morale in midweek, Cesc Fabregas was the heartbeat behind the Blues’ impressive comeback on Tuesday and a lot of the attention centres upon whether he will start tomorrow.
While the Jose Mourinho factor is now gone from this fixture, Antonio Conte will be more than aware of the Blues’ excellent record against Arsenal down the years and something he’ll crucially want to keep going.
With Diego Costa leading the Premier League scoring charts now with five goals, the Spanish international is looking his clinical best again and that should worry Arsenal supporters.
Effectively the match winner when taking advantage of Gabriel Paulista’s stupidity at Stamford Bridge last season, the striker actually separated the teams himself in the reverse fixture with a solitary goal overcoming Arsenal 0-1 at Emirates Stadium back in January.
So as we countdown to this huge fixture, This Is Futbol attempt to second guess Antonio Conte’s chosen starting eleven for tomorrow’s London Derby at Emirates Stadium.